Nalong
by pacphys
Summary: As a result of a rescue two months ago the Turtles have been captured by a strange cult and are forced into a work camp. Now it is time to put plan for the great escape into motion. Final chapter Reposted.
1. Prologue

Nalong - Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT. Also I don't get paid for this. Please don't sue.

A/N: OK, just a word of warning. Part of this is somewhat based on a dream that started weird and just got weirder. Michelangelo had a cameo in the dream so I turtle-ized the whole thing. Then came up with this whole complicated story for what will probably be one little chapter to fit into. Alright, Pacphys is trying a new genre. She has moved the boys out of the lair and into what can be a vicious world. And with the "ol' turtle luck working true to form" it will be. ON TO THE STORY!!!!

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Leonardo tried to recall how they had gotten themselves into this fix. Thinking back he could not come up with just when it had all started. He did know that a few months ago Raphael had come across some strange cult of mutant hunters. He had witnessed them attacking and subduing what he had thought was a human and we went to put a stop to it. The victim wasn't as human as he had originally thought and when he gave her the opportunity she had lashed out at her attackers with strange claws. She muttered a curt thanks to her now confused protector and disappeared into the night. Which, looking back on it, was what Raphael should have done. However hindsight is always 20/20 and that really wasn't Raph's style. He knocked out the attackers and tied them up, leaving them for the police to handle before slipping into the shadows and heading home. The evening had been too weird, and he was ready to call it a night.

_He did the right thing. _ Leo reminded himself. It wasn't the first time he had reminded himself of that, and he was sure that it wouldn't be the last either. They had spent the last two months running from and fighting the cult. It was comprised of a group of humans who had discovered various mutants living among them. Turns out the turtles weren't as alone as they had thought. On the other hand maybe they were. Most of the 'mutants' were what the turtles would call human. They looked human, they responded to situations like a human, and they lived in the world of the humans, something that the turtles could never do. These 'mutants' merely had something different about them. Some had strange eyes and others a sixth finger, which as Don had pointed out was actually, oddly enough, a dominant gene. But for most of them you couldn't tell what made them a 'mutant' in this cult's mind. However there were a handful of other beings the turtles had run across that even they considered being mutants like themselves. The creature Raphael had helped that night had been a cat, tail and all. She was certainly a mutant, and of course they already knew Leatherhead.

Leonardo pulled his mind back to the present and the battle at hand. His brothers were holding their own for now, but with the weapons these people held he had a feeling that wouldn't last long. He had already taken a dart in his leg and he could feel the effects of the powerful sedative. It was certainly contributing to his drifting concentration, as well as the fact that he was sitting on the rooftop leaning up against an exhaust shaft while a fight raged around him. Another cult member aimed at Donatello.

"Donnie! Watch out!" Leo slurred. Donatello heard and spun intercepting the small dart with one end of his bo staff. Leo sighed in relief knowing that for now, he had saved one of his brothers.

It wasn't long before another dart found its mark, this time into Michelangelo's arm. Raphael saw and with a growl threw a sai at the gunman. His aim was true and another cult member went down. Raph's attack only fueled the initially unfounded rage of the strange cult.

"Donnie, we got to get them out of here." Raphael soon shouted to his only, still standing brother.

"I know Raph. But just how do suggest we do that?" Donnie replied rather casually given that he was busy knocking out the nearest gunman while trying to catch stray darts from the others. He covered the short distance separating him and his brother and they stood shell to shell.

"Oh no, once Leo's out, you're idea turtle. You know that." Raphael half-joked to the brainy turtle he thought of as one of his little brothers. Not really knowing who was oldest, and they were probably so close that it didn't matter anyway, they had each accepted a role based on personality, Leo as the oldest, then Raph, Donnie and finally Mikey.

"Well Raph," there was no joking around in Don's tone. "I am fresh out of ideas. We're outnumbered and two turtles down." He then called out to the two sedated turtles. "Leo, Mikey, can either of you two move?"

No response. Leo had blacked out a short while ago and Mikey was almost there.

"Mikey," Raph yelled. It worked, regaining his brother's attention. "We need you to move."

Mikey nodded and tried. Raphael was shocked when he heard Donatello's shout and saw him leap toward him out of the corner of his eye. By the time he turned around Don had another dart in his bo staff.

"Thank bro."

"Raph, I've got a plan. You get them out of here and I'll cover you."

"That's your plan?" Raphael asked skeptically, as he worked to get Mikey up and away from the confrontation.

"That's all we've got."

A short while later Mikey had been moved out of the fighting area, but that was all. Donnie and Raph turned their attentions to Leo who was still unconscious.

"Donnie, why don't you move him this time? I'll cover." There were too many darts in Don's bo. Even though the points were buried in the wood the tails of the darts probably had the same drug on them.

"And just how are you going to do that Raph? These are darts remember?" he called back as another dart was added to the growing collection on his staff. He wished he could take Raph up on the offer, as catching the stupid darts was more tiring than one would expect, but Raph's sais would be sadly ineffective against them. "Just move him quickly." Don added.

Raph did so and pulled a second brother from the scene of the fight.

A brief thought flashed across Don's mind and in that moment he knew that it was only a matter of time before he missed one of the darts. He banished the rogue thought to the back of his mind, and reasserted a confidence in his abilities that would be catching the things all day. Too bad the lapse might have been just enough to get them killed. He realized too late that there were too many of the darts on the bo, and sooner or later he was going to hit one of them. He cut his hand on one of the darts, then another one, and another, but his concentration was on the enemies firing at them and the need to get out of there.

Raphael pulled Leo to safety and together Don and Raph carried their unconscious brothers down the fire escape. They were just about away when Donatello heard it again. He whipped around and pulled his bo from its harness. Normally he would have caught the two darts he saw flying toward them, but between the normal exhaustion of the fight and the sedative he had already been exposed to his reactions were dulled and the darts found their marks, one embedded itself in Donatello's thigh and the other hit Raphael in the side. If it had landed two inches in either direction the red-clad turtle would have been spared by his shell or plastron, but it hit the unprotected area between the two. Still the two standing turtles fought valiantly to get away from the crazy cult, but it was to no avail. Donatello passed out first. He tried to focus on Raphael's shouts to stay awake, but he couldn't. A short while later blackness claimed Raphael as well. Raph would later swear he had heard maniacal laughing from the dart-gun-toting cult.

A/N: he he. That's all you get for now. I have more, I promise. I don't have the whole story and I am a little worried about that. But I'll certainly try to complete this. I do know where I want to go with it. It'll just take me a while to get there.


	2. Chapter 1

Nalong - Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of any terrapin mutants, or any mutant rats, or anything related to the TMNT. I don't own them; just play in their world a little. I promise to put them away when I am through.

Let's see is there anything else that I can think of? Oh yes, italics are usually thinking. If they are inside quotes then they are emphasis, but usually they're thinking

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! YAY! You all Rock!

Leo was the first one to wake up. Not surprisingly, especially since he had been hit first, and he always came to rather quickly compared to his brothers. He looked around and realized that he had no idea where he was. The chain that held him to the wall was frustrating and he pulled at it. One always checked to make sure restraints were more than just for show. Unfortunately, these were definitely serious restraints. He tried to remember how he had gotten himself into this particular predicament. All he came up with was a fight, and a dart, then nothing. A second look around the room and he realized that he wasn't alone. His brothers were all chained to the walls just like he was. Silently he cursed to himself. There was nothing he could do other than wait for them to wake up. He guessed that Raphael would be next. Mikey and Donnie tended to take little longer to come around than the larger turtles did.

_How sad is it that I'm pretty sure of the order they'll wake up in after being drugged. _It certainly wasn't normal, but then, they weren't normal. He heard someone coming and quickly pretended to be unconscious again.

"They are strong. They will make good slaves." A male voice said.

_Slaves? Where are we? _ Leo thought. Mental alarms were going off like crazy.

"Yes sir. I am told they also took out several of the Protectors, even without guns. Their weapons are ancient and outdated, but they fight well."

It was a feminine voice and Leo could feel his blood start to boil at the woman he couldn't see. _ I'll show you ancient and outdated when I get out of here_.

"We must not underestimate them." She continued.

_Ain't that the truth,_ Leo thought. He wasn't worried about not being underestimated however. They were almost always underestimated eventually, and they could wait. It was just one more prison to break out of. He and his brothers had broken out of enough of them that he wasn't terribly concerned by the prospect of one more. He knew they could do it, but he didn't have to like it.

"We should probably separate them before they come to." The man said.

"Actually that would be ill-advisable." The woman replied. "They are reportedly a close knit group and separating them would make them violent and more difficult to control. Jarvis wishes that they remain together."

_Good choice Jarvis. _Leonardo heard the pair outside the cell turn and leave. A moment later he opened his eyes carefully and started trying to rouse his brothers.

Sure enough Raphael was the next to wake up. Once he was fully awake Leo explained what he had just heard and Raph explained the rest of the fight.

"I think Donnie's going to be out for a while yet." Raph stated, which didn't surprise Leo, but Raphael continued. "I think he got more than one dart. He had several on his bo and I think he might have cut himself on one of them."

Soon Michelangelo started showing signs of waking, but Donatello remained unconscious.

"What makes you think that Raph?" Leo asked quietly

"His reaction time was slow, and he wavered when he tried to stop the darts that got us. He just didn't seem to be all there."

They looked worriedly at their still unconscious brother. Even Mikey was coming to now. He had heard Raph's last statement, but wasn't quite sure who he was talking about, looking around the room he knew it had to be Don.

"Donnie took two darts?" Mikey asked, voice cracking. he swallowed once and waited for an answer.

"At least," Raphael confirmed. Now that Mikey was awake they might be able to see how many Don had touched. "Mikey, can you see his hands from where you are?"

"Uh, kinda. Why?"

"Can you see any cuts that might be from the darts?" Leonardo asked, realizing where Raphael was going with this.

"His hands are all cut up, but I can't tell what might be from a dart, and what might be from other parts of the fight. He's got a couple of slices that I see from here though."

"Mikey, is he breathing?" Leo asked worry in his voice.

Mikey watched his brother carefully before replying. At first he didn't think he was, but looking again he could see the slow rise and fall of his brother's chest.

"Yeah, yes he is!" Mikey whispered relief evident in his voice.

"Hey Leo, do they know we speak English?" Raph asked suddenly.

"I can't imagine that they don't, but let's not use it. Just in case."

For the time being they would converse in Japanese or not at all. Splinter had taught them the language when they were young and they found that slipping into the old habit was not as difficult as they had first expected.

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The door was unlocked and the guards from earlier entered the concrete chamber. Leonardo eyed the guard with curiosity and anger. Behind the door stood several more, but only two actually entered the cell.

A while later the guards returned. Donatello was still unconscious and his brothers figured he was going to remain that way for quite a while yet.

"Well, well, well." The male guard drawled. "Look who finally decided to wake up."

Three conscious turtles glared at him and his female counterpart. The fourth just continued breathing, unaware of the events surrounding him.

Anger took a side seat to curiosity when the woman approached Michelangelo.

"Well, we can't just leave you here now can we? We need you working." The woman explained.

Leo carefully kept the expression of curiosity and anger on his face and noticed that his brothers were doing likewise. The handcuffs were removed from the chains on the wall and a shock stick was the new way to keep them in line. The woman released Michelangelo and Leonardo as the man released Donatello and started to pick him up. Raphael didn't like that one little bit and tried to pull away from the wall. The restraints held. Leonardo glared at him and Raphael knew it was a warning, but he didn't want that guy touching any of his brothers, no way, no how. The woman who had been about to remove his restraints took a step back from Raphael. Noticing the look on his face and where it was aimed she paused. Raph forced himself to calm down momentarily and after a few moments she released him as well.

As soon as he was free he rushed to the man who now carried his still unconscious brother. Raphael growled at him, but kept his distance. These people thought they were animals anyway, so why not show them just how animal he could be.

"Alan, I think you should give her to him. I think that one might be his mate." The woman said in warning to her partner.

All three conscious turtles shared the same thought, _her?_ Leonardo stood in shock at the statement, he couldn't figure out just where she had pulled that from, a quick glance at Michelangelo and he could tell his brother in orange was trying desperately not to laugh. Raphael didn't find it funny at all. He turned to the woman and corrected her.

"Brother," He hissed, if he had used English she probably would have understood, but they had agreed on Japanese and until they knew more, that was the way things would stay.

"How can you tell the difference Sandy?" The man, Alan, asked. "They look the same to me."

"A couple of reasons," she started.

Raphael growled at the man again cutting off her explanation.

"First give her to him." The woman ordered. Once Alan did so she continued. "First off the reaction of the one with the red bandana was a protective one. You only see that in animals when a mother protects her young, or when a male protects his mate. They all look to be the same age, so logically the purple one must be a mate. Second the three who are awake are all darker than the one you were holding and in many species coloring is different for males and females. Also she's wearing purple."

"Don's going to be mad when he finds out about this." Mikey whispered to Leo, again in Japanese. Leo just nodded. Donnie _was_ going to be angry, probably very angry. At least Leo could be pretty sure that Don wouldn't take that anger out on anyone.

"Come on turtles." The man ordered threatening the group with the stun gun and spitting the last word as though it were something dirty. They moved as they were instructed, Raphael now carrying Donatello, which was made even more of a trick by the fact that both were handcuffed.

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BWAHAHAHAHAAA!

AAH! Oh, uh... meet my muse, one of them anyway. I think this one has it in for poor Donnie. No, not really. She just wants to embarrass him and make his life a little bit miserable. I think that she thinks it's funny. Don't worry though, he's my favorite turtle, so you can be sure he'll have his chance to shine.

I don't know that they actually speak Japanese, in the third movie they don't, but who cares. That movie was weird anyway. In my world they do, mostly because it works for the story. I don't speak Japanese, pero no creo que ellos hablen Español, por lo tanto ellos hablan Japonés.


	3. Chapter 2

Nalong - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own them. I still don't see that changing. I still don't get paid for this. I still don't see that changing either. I still like to write these little stories. I still write these disclaimers. I still…nope I'm out.

A/N: I still think I'll need this. HA got another one! YAY people are reading my story and even seem to like it! Cool. I recognize a couple of familiar faces, Thanks for coming back. I also noticed several new ones, Welcome.

They had been walking for quite awhile, and Leonardo was beginning to worry about Raphael. He didn't want Donnie in the hands of those guards anymore than Raph did but the fact remained that Don was heavy. Just as heavy as any of them were and Raph couldn't carry him forever. When Leo offered to take Donnie from his brother Alan threatened them with the shock stick for slowing up and they had been unable to make the trade. They hadn't slowed up that much, so Leo guessed that forcing Raphael to carry Donatello the whole way was part of his punishment for threatening the guards. All Leo could do was hope that they didn't have much farther to go.

Coming over the next rise they found rows of what looked like barracks. _Terrific_ Leo thought, being stuck in an internment camp was just what they needed. It just put a wonderful capper on the day, but they'd broken out of prisons before. This was just another one on what was too quickly becoming a rather long list.

About halfway down the third row Sandy opened the door of one of the barracks. Submissively the turtles entered the building. Eight beds lined the walls, but for now the turtles were the only ones there. As soon as they were in the door Raphael laid Donatello on the nearest bed and Leo could tell that Raph was about to collapse himself after carrying Donnie so far, though he knew that Raph would never admit it. Sandy stood nearby with the shock stick at the ready as Alan removed the handcuffs from the turtles, Donatello first, then Michelangelo, Leonardo and finally Raphael. Releasing them in reverse of what they had evidently, and incorrectly, assumed to be the pecking order of the group. It was another little surprise which may be of use to them later. Raphael sat down on the next bed over from Donatello, mostly because it was there, but it also let him watch over his brother. He repeated what Leo and Mikey had already gone over.

"He's going to be ticked off about the girl thing when he finds out." Raph said in Japanese.

"Maybe we don't have to tell him about it?" Mikey suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, then he can find out from someone else, probably that Sandy woman and not be expecting it."

"Maybe that would be the better way to find out."

"Mikey, it's not right. Donnie may not like it, but we have to tell him."

"Tell me what?" The subject of the conversation slurred. He was bleary and having trouble concentrating, but he had definitely understood Leo's last statement.

"Donnie, you're awake." Raphael declared in surprise.

Donatello just blinked at him for a moment, and tried to shake off whatever it was that had done this to him. Suddenly he remembered. There had been a fight, darts. He remembered trying to pull Leo and Mikey away from the battle, cutting his hand on some of the darts stuck in his bo, and worst of all he remembered not being able to get the weapon back up in time to stop the last two darts.

"Oh, Geez," he moaned "Guys, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You're not going to be when we tell you what you missed out on." Mikey put in.

"No, I-- I couldn't stop it, I cut myself on some of them, I should have been more careful. I should have stopped them, it shouldn't have beenaproblembutitwas…" He had woken up to Japanese and had slipped into the old habit easily, but in the process of speaking faster and faster he had reverted back to English.

"Donnie, stop it." Leo ordered quietly in Japanese. "There was nothing you could do. Mikey and I got hit first. You did all you could, no one could ask for more."

Don lay quietly for a moment before sitting up, the effects of the drug finally wearing off enough that he felt he could do so without tipping back over. It was a moment before he remembered that there was something they thought he should know.

Uh, wasn't there something you were going to tell me?" He asked returning to the Japanese his brothers had been using. There was no need to ask why they were using the language they hadn't really used in several years, because he could guess the reason for that one.

All of a sudden all three brothers got very edgy. They would look anywhere but at Don and he wanted to know what it was all about, he was also getting pretty sure he wasn't going to like it. He recognized every telltale sign they had that said that they knew he wasn't going to like it. In fact their body language practically screamed that he wasn't going to like it. Mikey was scuffing his feet on the floor, Leo had an odd look on his face and wouldn't meet Don's eyes and Raph was looking anywhere but at his purple clad brother, finally settling on feigning intense interest with a spot of dust on the floor.

"Guys?" Don prompted.

Nothing

"Leo?" His blue clad brother met his eyes, but just gave him a strange look.

"Raph?" Raphael looked startled, almost like he had forgotten that Don was there and still looking for an answer. Only one left, and he tried for a more intimidating tone than the questioning and pleading tones he had tried on the first two brothers.

"Mikey?"

The orange clad turtle couldn't take the pressure and that had been exactly was Donatello had been counting on, part of the reason he had asked Mikey last.

"Theythinkyou'reagirl." The one unanimously thought of as the youngest brother blurted out, almost faster than Don could follow. At first he didn't think he had understood and looked at Mikey with confusion on his face. Next he looked to Leo for confirmation and he got it. It wasn't in so many words, but he could tell by Leo and Raph's body language that he had heard right.

"They think what?" Don asked disbelievingly. He didn't get a response, not that he really allowed time for one, and he hadn't really expected one either. "and just why, exactly, do they think that?"

Maybe it would have been better if Leo or even Raph had tried to explain, but it was Mikey who beat them to the punch.

"Well, they were going to move us, except we didn't want them to take you, and Raph got all up in their faces, and they figured he wasn't your mother so that meant you had to be his mate, and…

"WHAT?" The normally quiet turtle hollered at this new little tidbit of information. It didn't stop Mikey for a second though. He had a story to tell and he was going to get it all out and nothing was going to stop him.

"then she said that you were a different color so probably a girl, and then she added that you were wearing purple and the whole thing just kind of went from there, and we couldn't correct her because we didn't want them to know that we spoke English and…"

"I think that's enough Mikey." Leo stated as he put a hand on Mike's shoulder putting a stop to the eruption of words.

"I'm Raph's GIRLFRIEND!" Donatello asked incredulous, and more than a little appalled at the turn of events.

"You're his mate." Mikey supplied helpfully. If looks could kill Mikey would have been dead where he stood from the one he was receiving from Don.

"That's enough Mikey." Raphael said. "I did try to correct them Donnie, but they don't seem to speak Japanese, which is actually to our benefit."

Donatello sighed. His brothers had done the right thing. He couldn't blame them for this; it was just a stupid misinterpretation of intentions. But that didn't mean he had to like it. He looked up from the floor when Leo crouched in front of him.

"So, do you think you can do this?"

"Do I get a choice?"

"Not really." Leo admitted.

"Then I guess I'll have to." He said, letting his voice creep into a falsetto range that was actually pretty convincing.

"Thanks Donnie." Leo said quietly.

"I'll do it but I don't have to like it." Donatello said in his normal voice. "And just for the record, I don't like it at all."

"I'm not too fond of it either. I mean the whole thing is just wrong." Raphael added slightly miffed, "So I guess we can suffer together." Raph smiled slightly, but his eyes were apologetic. He had tried to correct the guard, but to do more would have blown their cover.

Donatello sighed and any anger toward his brothers he allowed to roll off his shell like so much water off a duck's back. He really couldn't believe this was happening, and the remaining fuzziness in his brain wasn't helping matters. He was frustrated and exhausted and he could see that his brothers were too, especially Raph, who seemed barely able to sit up straight. In the back of his mind Donatello wondered just how he had gotten to the barracks. Mikey said they had been moved. Don was pretty sure he knew how he had gotten here, and decided then that he would rather not have known given the current situation.

"We should get some sleep." Leo told them, "Who knows when we'll get the chance again."

Donatello stayed on the bottom bunk Raphael had put him on when they arrived. Raph himself was on the next bunk on the same wall where he had all but collapsed upon entering the room, and Leo and Mikey claimed the beds above them. Tactically, the four top bunks might have been the best choice, but they wanted to be as close to each other as possible. They would take every opportunity to point out that they were a family and that was how it was going to stay. Sooner or later someone would figure out that they did speak English, and that Don was their brother, not Raph's girl, and hopefully for Don's sanity's sake that would happen pretty soon. Tomorrow they would start working on a way to get out of here.

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It wasn't long before they were joined in their little barracks by a group of humans. At least they looked human, and acted human and for all the turtles could tell they were human. In fact there didn't seem to be one thing mutant about them, but maybe their standards were a little skewed. Or, more likely, the standards of their captors were skewed.

"Look, new ones. Check this out, they're awesome." One of them started.

"Annie, I wouldn't be so excited about it. That just means that these jerks caught a few more innocent beings and locked them up for no good reason." The man who chastised her was wearing jeans and a work shirt. He had sandy colored hair and his eyes held a deep pain. Something horrible had happened to this man, and it had probably started long before he got here, wherever here was.

The first one, Annie, looked ashamed. It was obvious from the look on her face that she knew that her companion was right in his statement. The turtles had heard the commotion and were all well awake by this time, and looking at their new roommates with a combination of curiosity and mistrust. The third and final member of the group looked at Donatello, studied him for a moment then approached. He paused at the warning glare he received from all four turtles.

"Uh… hello?" He tried. He was dressed in all black. His long-sleeved shirt, his pants, and even his shoes were black. He also had black hair, but his kind voice betrayed the dark, hard tendencies of his clothing. The turtles' expressions didn't change, and the young man slowed his approach.

"You got more of that sedative crap than you were supposed to didn't you?" He asked looking directly at Donatello. The four were shocked and had no clue as to how the man could have possibly known that. "Your signature is all screwy." The man said by way of explanation at the confusion on their faces.

The four turtles maintained their carefully schooled blank looks. Ok, not so carefully, they were confused, and confusion often led to blank looks. When he reached out Don shied away from the touch. The man in black turned back to his companions.

"I don't think they trust us."

"Oh really, ya think?" Annie stated sarcastically.

"As far as they're concerned, we're probably human." The man in jeans explained. "Humans captured them, and based on their appearance I would guess that they haven't had too much contact with people."

"You know they are right here, and can hear you…probably."

I'm not convinced that they understand us though." The man in black supplied.

Raphael and Donatello shared a glance at the statement debating with their eyes whether or not to tell these people that they could indeed speak English. After all they were fellow prisoners. Talking with these people might answer some questions. Above them Michelangelo and Leonardo did the same. Leo came to a decision.

"We speak English, quite well in fact, and we do understand you." The turtle in blue said from his bunk. We'd just rather the guards didn't know that we understand them.

The three new arrivals to the room were shocked when Leo spoke. They hadn't really believed that it was possible, but here it was. A giant turtle was talking to them. Jeans was the first to overcome his initial shock and speak coherently.

"Uh…Well I guess we should start with introductions then."

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A/N: Nope, that's all for now folks. I hope you enjoyed this and that some of your questions were answered. Those that weren't should be by the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 3

Nalong - Chapter 3

Disclaimer: If this is still connected to the first chapter, and the prologue, and the second chapter all of which have disclaimers do I really need to say this again? I don't own the turtles. I don't get paid for this.

A/N: Hello and thanks for the reviews

Sorry it took me so long to get this one up. Things have been a little crazy here of late. But we get a break next week! YAY!

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Jeans started off the introductions. It only seemed fair since it had been his suggestion. Also he had kind of taken the two younger humans under his wing and so far he hadn't been impressed by his own manners. Though he had been surprised by the turtles capacity for speech, that was no reason to stand there staring like he was.

"My name is Steve, and this is Eric, and Annie." He gestured to the young man in black by Donatello, who smiled, then to the woman who had come in with them.

Noticing the use of what were probably nicknames by Steve, Leonardo continued similarly. "I am Leo, and this is Mikey, Raph and Don." He replied. Each of his brothers responded to their names by nodding or waving.

"So," Annie started, "You must be the girl the guards were talking about." She smiled at Donnie and turned to Eric. "That might explain the screwy signature."

They had spilled the English secret, but had kept as much to themselves as they could, much to Donnie's dismay. Donatello briefly glared up at Leo before turning it on the much closer Raphael while the humans were occupied amongst themselves. The responding look on Raph's face said, 'what are you looking at me for?"

"No way Annie. That might be part of it, but the tracer for that stupid drug they use is definitely way too strong. I'm surprised that it's up at all."

"Not 'it'." Annie corrected harshly. "She, You're surprised that she's up at all."

Don turned his glare back on his brother in blue. Leo just shrugged at him and disappeared back onto his own bed. He knew Donatello wasn't happy with the situation, especially the bit about being Raph's girlfriend, but he didn't see a way around it. They hadn't asked if Donatello was girl or not, simply assumed the guards had been correct in their assumption that one of the turtles was a girl. Don and Dawn sound exactly the same, so based on names and headband colors they had reached the same conclusion as the guards. It was all a big vicious circle and Leo saw no reason to correct them. In his head Leo could hear the arguments that his purple-clad brother would make. _They're not guards Leo. They are prisoners just like us._ He paused and considered what he knew Don would say as soon as he got the chance. Leo could almost feel Donnie's glare through the mattress and he knew that his brother would have more on the subject. _They're going to be ticked when they find out I'm a guy and we didn't correct them. Next time you get to be the girl! _Leo sighed. He couldn't do this to his brother. If it had been him he would have corrected these people long ago, and the same was true for Raph. Mikey might let it go at first but he never kept to a charade for long, especially among those who could be counted as possible allies. Only Donnie would suffer quietly as he was and Leo didn't like taking advantage of that. After what seemed like forever, but was in reality only seconds he spoke, breaking up the argument that had sprouted between Eric and Annie. From Steve's reaction, or rather his non-reaction, this was a common occurrence.

"He, actually," Leo corrected.

"What?" The two bickering humans questioned.

"You're surprised that HE'S up at all." Leo explained slowly. He was leaning over the edge of the bed and didn't miss the shocked look on Donatello's face.

Don had been convinced that Leo wanted to keep every secret they could and had just settled into being annoyed when Leo evidently changed his mind. It was a nice surprise, so Don certainly didn't object, but that didn't change the fact that he was astounded.

"So why did the guards think he was a she?" Annie asked. All eyes turned to Leonardo.

"Actually, I think it's my fault more than anything." Raph supplied rubbing his head and shocking the humans again. Somehow they had assumed that Leo was the only one who could talk.

"Sure was!" Mikey interjected, earning himself a glare from Raph and Leo.

"I was unconscious." Don added, "or it probably wouldn't have happened in the first place."

The turtles explained the events that lead to the guards assumptions. When they were through Steve was the first to speak.

"You've got a bit of a temper on you don't you?" His voice laughed as he spoke to Raphael.

"Yeah, I guess I do." The red banded turtle admitted.

"Guess?" Mikey questioned smiling down at Raph from above, who glared for a moment before he eventually smiled back.

"You might want to keep that in check in here. It can get you in trouble." Eric supplied.

"Tell me about it." Don put in. The room filled with laughter.

Suddenly Steve turned silent and the rest of the room followed suit.

"They're coming." He informed quietly as he hurried to the nearest available bed. "Lights out all" Annie and Eric jumped into beds as well. "We need to be silent from here on out. Get some sleep guys." It was a strong suggestion just short of an order. The turtles took it as such and obeyed. The lights flicked out by themselves. Donatello wondered if they were on a timer, or if one of their roommates had been responsible for that little trick.

They slept lightly, the events of the day replaying and sorting themselves out in their minds. Sooner or later the guards would figure out that they did speak English, and that Don was their brother, not Raph's girl. Tomorrow they would start working on a way to get out of here. At least that was the plan...

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The next morning the turtles rose very early. Their roommates were still asleep, and part of their minds told them they should sleep for as long as they could and should talk tonight. Instead they were all up and at Leo's suggestion, or rather coercion, were practicing their katas as silently as possible. Their three roommates never noticed, even when Don leapt over Mikey when, in the small space, the orange banded brother got too close and nearly knocked him over. Don's landing had been slightly off and he had made some noise, but no one seemed to notice. They had moved on to a little stretching and preparation for the day when their roommates finally roused.

"Geez guys, how long have you been up?" Annie asked blearily.

"Oh, a half hour or so," Michelangelo responded lightly. He would NEVER admit it out loud, but the morning training sessions always helped wake him up, and he rather enjoyed them. He knew that deep down Don and Raph felt the same way, and Leo... well Leo lived and breathed ninjitsu, so getting him to practice at any time was never a problem.

"You guys are crazy you know that right?" Annie continued.

"Maybe a little." Mikey admitted.

Annie, Steve, and Eric started preparing for the day. Pulling on articles of clothing they had shed the night before when they went to bed. They also went about finding their shoes and socks and getting them on too. The turtles stretched for they had nothing else to do. It was one of the benefits of wearing only joint pads, belts and bandanas.

"I hope you boys didn't use up all your energy this morning because you are going to need it to get through the day." Steve warned them.

"We went easy this morning." Leo informed him. He had no idea what they were in for and they needed to be ready for that, but they would never get out of here if they neglected their ninja training.

"Just a word of warning," Eric piped up, "they'll probably separate you during the day. Put you in different work groups. I know you'll be separated if they think you're a girl." He said to Donatello.

"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me." Donnie replied dryly. "We should probably go back to using Japanese too."

"Probably wise," Steve told them, "you don't want your cover blown until it has to be."

Moments later a trumpet sounded and Steve, Eric and Annie led the way out of the barracks. Leo had almost been the first to follow, but had stood aside letting Raph by to return to the story the guards had believed the night before. Leo followed his red banded brother then Mikey and finally Donnie exited as well. The two guards from the night before were nowhere to be seen, but there were plenty of other guards around. Steve, Eric, and Annie formed a line directly in front of the building and the turtles followed suit. One of the guards approached the building.

"CH723, MT824." He called out. At the prompting Annie stepped forward, and at a look from her Donnie took a step forward too. So he was a number now. MT824. He could remember that. Well, his number had been a little obvious since it had been called with Annie's; he hoped that his brothers could figure out theirs before anything bad happened to them. The guard led Donnie and Annie away from the group remaining at the barracks. It wasn't long before another guard came and called more numbers.

"CH712, MT811, and MT813 You're with me." The guard's voice was like ice. Leo took a miniscule step backwards letting his brothers know that they were probably the ones the guard was referring to. Based on how things went last night Leo had a feeling that he would have a 2 at the end of his number, especially having already heard 4, 1, and 3 as obviously referring to his family, and 3 and 2 referring to their roommates. Raphael and Mikey took the clue and stepped forward with Eric. The guard led them away heading the same direction as Annie and Donnie had just been taken. It was only moments before a third guard came along.

"TH711 and MT812 Move along now."

Leo had no idea what to expect from here on out. What he did suspect was that 1) he wasn't going to like it, and 2) it was going to be a very long day. Especially since he didn't know what was happening to his brothers. Leonardo did not like this one little bit.

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BWAHAHAHAHA! That's all folks, all for this chappie anyway. Catch you on the flip side.


	5. Chapter 4

Nalong - Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Nyeh, not feeling creative enough to play with this today. I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I don't get paid for this. Please don't sue.

A/N: Heya all!  
YES I can FINALLY post this! A big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!

In the past I promised cool stuff headed Don's way, here is some of it.

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Donatello had a strange little smirk on his face and Annie could not figure out for the life of her what he found so funny. They had been carrying water for the better part of the day, and still the turtle was smirking as though the guards had made some grievous error, little did she know, they had. They had made the error of having Donatello haul water from the river back to camp, well actually the error had been showing him where they kept the equipment and what it was.

Don knew only too well what it was and how it was supposed to be used, but he didn't let on. Instead he played dumb, allowing Annie to show him how best to carry the two water buckets on the six foot long stick, or tenbin, provided to them. Donnie had a feeling that someone missed out on a little memo. Oh well, too late now. He smiled again. He couldn't wait to tell his brothers about this one. The cheerful disposition also succeeded in one other thing. It was making the guard angry, which only made Don smile more. He had a feeling he would pay for it later, but right now he didn't care.

"You keep smiling like that and they will never let you do this again." Annie warned.

Donatello nodded while taking in the information. They were near the river now. He had heard earlier that 50 people were in the group carrying water and another 165 were working in a field right next to the river they were getting the water from. In all that made 214 prisoners nearby and Donatello made it 215. He was absolutely shocked at the sheer number of people held in this place. Their captors didn't seem that organized, yet here he was among all these people. It made him sick knowing that humans would do this to other beings for the sole crime of being different. He knew the same thing had occurred throughout history, but that didn't make it right.

He looked out across the river as he filled his water buckets. The river was slow-moving and shallow. It also seemed to make up some sort of border to the complex. As far as he could tell the river looked pretty safe to cross, and that anyone who made it across would have escaped the confines of the prison. He wasn't ready to leave yet himself, as he would never leave without his brothers, but maybe the others could get away. From what Annie told him he probably wouldn't be getting this job again, so if he made a move it would have to be now. He turned to Annie who was nearby.

"If I created a distraction large enough for these people to get across the river would that be sufficient for them to escape?" He whispered in English after making sure the guards were far enough away that they couldn't hear.

"Donatello, are you nuts!"

"Uh no, don't think so, and please call me Don. Are they free if they get across the river?" He questioned insistently.

"Yes, but…"

Donatello nodded as he put the stick back over his shoulders. It cut Annie off for a moment, but she was not to be deterred.

"They'll take you to _the Course._" She whispered harshly as though it was the worst thing in the world. "Very few come back from there, and most of those who do go crazy in the following days."

"But they'll be free right?" Don confirmed. He now knew something about the punishment he would receive. It wasn't certain death, and therefore a risk he was willing to take.

"Yeah, yeah they'll be free."

"Start letting them know that they'll have a chance to escape on the next trip down. Also make sure it passes through the people in that field there." He said quietly.

"Why are you doing this? Don, you'll get yourself killed."

"Because Annie, it's the right thing to do. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He said simply, effectively ending the conversation. Annie nodded and started passing the message among the women carrying water and working the field.

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April was surprised by the knock at her door. She wasn't expecting anyone, which just meant that it was probably one of the turtles wanting to get away from his brothers. The only problem with that little scenario was that it was the middle of the day. Opening the door she found just about the last person she expected to see and she fought to contain her surprise at Splinter's presence on her doorstep. Upon finding the wise rat there warning klaxons sounded in her mind. Knowing his obvious discomfort was a result of standing out in the open like he was she hurriedly invited him in. Once they were seated in the living room Splinter was the first to speak.

"April, I am sorry to disturb you my child but have you, by any chance, heard from my sons?" Though his voice remained calm April knew that inside he was seriously troubled.

"No, I haven't heard from any of them for a couple of days."

"They did not come home from their training run last night and I am deeply concerned for their safety." The rat explained.

"Hmm… That's not like them. You don't suppose…" April was horrified at the thought that had just drifted, unbidden, across her mind.

"No." Splinter said quickly and with certainty. "They are alive, somewhere; for now anyway."

April breathed a sigh of relief. If Splinter said they were alive, then they were alive. Now it was just a matter of finding them.

"Could they have gotten trapped outside and were just unable to make it home?" April inquired hopefully.

Splinter sighed. It was enough to tell April that while he could hope that was the case, each turtle had a shell cell and Donatello had taken his usual bag of tricks with him. They would have contacted him by now if they had been able to. April sighed. Her mind momentarily drifted to Donnie's duffel bag. He carried that thing everywhere. Some part of April always imagined him as being a guy who, if he were human, would like cargo pants. Not for the whole baggy look, but for the pockets. Her mind drifted to what would turn up in Mikey's pockets if he had any, and she quickly decided that she didn't really want to know. Shaking her head she pulled herself back to the situation at hand.

"I'll call Casey. We'll find them Splinter." She stated with confidence. The far less confident _if they are out there to be found at all_ hung in the air between the two. Despite Splinter's strong belief that his sons were alive even he had his doubts, especially in regard to how long they would remain that way. He nodded and April hurried to the phone in the kitchen.

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When Donatello was about half way back to the river he got the message from another prisoner that someone was going to create a distraction and that they were supposed to try to escape. As a result he was fairly certain that it had traveled through most of the group. This time when he filled his buckets he didn't hang them back on the tenbin. Many weapons began as farming equipment and one common theory was that the bo staff was one of them. Theoretically, one such use had been to carry water in just this manner. That was what he had found so funny earlier; his idiot captors had essentially given him his weapon back. As far as he was concerned the tenbin across his shoulders was a bo, and he was about to use it as such. One should really think twice before putting a six foot long stick in the hands of a bo staff specialist enemy. Water now completely forgotten and one bucket floating down the river Don leapt at the nearest guard.

The guard was taken completely by surprise. During the day there were almost never any escape attempts. Any attempts were usually made at night, and even then it was generally the men making them. No one had ever had the audacity to try to escape in the middle of the work day with guards all around. No one until they had tangled with the ninja turtles anyway. The lack of attempts was part of the reason that the newest and weakest guards were put on duty during the day, and particularly supervising the women. Don knew that he had the element of surprise on his side.

He felt the end of the staff connect with the head of the guard standing nearest him. Shortly a shout rang out and everyone around him hurried across the river. Don smiled knowing that several of them would make it away. He watched as the guards started pulling out their shock sticks. The next guard was only a few feet away and was struggling with one of the women, manhandling her in a way that no one deserved to be treated. Don slipped along the edge of the crowd hurrying to the river and rushed behind the guard. He tapped the guy on the shoulder.

"Don't you know that's not how to treat a lady?" He asked sarcastically. The guard just stared at him. Don sighed and slid the 'bo' across the ground pulling the guard's feet out from underneath him. As the guy fumbled for his shock stick Don yanked the object from his hands and broke it in two over his knee before heading down to the next guard. Don had to smile at the chaos he had caused, especially since none of the guards seemed to know he had been the one to start it. He worked his way quickly down the line taking out as many of the guards as he could as quietly as possible knowing that it wouldn't be long before their back-up arrived. Guards were quickly and cleanly dropped to the ground while fellow prisoners hurried to the river.

Finally a guard began to give Donatello a run for his money. Don had had his shell to the guy to start with, and had barely heard the soft electronic whine. Just in time he whipped his weapon around and caught the offending shock stick.

"What do you think you're doing you FREAK?" The guard growled at Donatello. The shock stick was pulled away from the bo and another attack was attempted. Don watched carefully and deflected the second attack with ease.

"You can't keep us here." Don hissed back, voice barely above a whisper. "We have done nothing wrong." With the strain of holding the guy back Don's voice was a little higher than his normal range, but he wasn't trying to hide anything anymore.

"You were born!" The irrational guard yelled at the turtle in front of him. "Just like the rest of them." He swung a leg around in an attempt to knock Don from his feet, but the turtle had been prepared. He jumped and flipped over the head of the guard and was now standing behind him. Pulled the bo around he landed a blow to the guard's side. The guy went down, but didn't stay there. He was soon up and attacking again.

"You were also born." Don pointed out, Leo would be angry enough when he found out what Donnie was doing right now and he reluctantly disguised his voice again. "And you don't seem to hold it against yourself, nor do I hold it against you. Why is our existence any different?" He didn't really think that logic was gong to work with this guy, but he had to at least try.

"Ah, but you are a freak of nature, something that was never meant to be."

"Nevertheless I exist, and that very existence tells me that I AM meant to be."

"No!" The guard shouted, he was starting to get flustered and Don could see the mistake coming that would be the guy's undoing.

"I'm done talking to you." Donatello spun the bo over his head gaining momentum and landed a powerful blow to his opponent's midsection. The guy doubled over in pain and before he had a chance to do anything else Don had brought the bo back down on his head and knocked him out. Risking a glance at the river Donatello could see that most of the slaves, or rather former slaves, had made it to freedom on the other side. Part of him wished that he could join them, but he had to wait for his brothers. He could not leave without them. Too many of the women he had spent the day working with were still on this side of the river, so Don went back to busting heads; logic wasn't going to work on these guys.

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Donatello wasn't quite sure how it happened. He had been focusing too much on the guards in front of him to notice the one behind him. Too late he heard the shock stick charging. His part in this escape came to an abrupt end as the shock stick connected with his neck.

"How many got away?" Someone ordered.

"Well, 36 remain, including this one, and we started with 215 among the two groups, so… 179 inmates escaped sir." The voice was young and sounded scared.

Those were the last words Donatello heard before everything went black, and even as he passed out Don smiled one more time.

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A/N: Ok, I promised more about the numbers. tmntyyh was correct in guessing that MT does indeed stand for Mutant Turtle. Also Mickis asked about the 1-4 at the end of the guys numbers. The numbers 1 - 4 in my mind are more a threat level that the guards who put them in the system, namely Sandy and Alan, associated with them than anything else. Sandy and Alan perceived Raphael as the biggest threat; remember he confronted Alan, so he was given number 1. Leo, who tried to assist Raph in carrying Don showed some initiative, but didn't physically do anything to them. Mikey didn't really do much while they were around, but he was awake. And finally Donatello was stuck with number 4. He was, as you may recall, unconscious through the whole interaction, and it's really hard to consider an unconscious being a threat. There is one more number that has a meaning associated with it. So far no one has guessed that one. So I shall keep it to myself for a little while longer grins evilly .


	6. Chapter 5

Nalong - Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I make no profit from this story. At least not any tangible profit, I love reviews, and I get the joy of having written this down and had a little fun with it. Please don't sue me.

A/N: Wow. There are so many of you. Wow. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful reviews!

* * *

Leonardo was the first to of the turtles return to the barracks that evening. He had spent the whole day digging ditches and was a little tired, but he wanted to be awake when his brothers got back. He hadn't seen any of them all day long and he was worried about them.

"Leo, will you please sit down?" Steve asked the pacing turtle. "How much trouble could they have possibly gotten into on their first day?"

Leo knew exactly how much trouble his brothers were capable of getting into and he knew that they could do it quickly too. Steve noticed the look on Leo's face and remembered a bit about Raph's personality, as well as some of the stories Leo had told him throughout the day. And when he thought about it a little more he realized that Mikey could probably cook up a little trouble of his own in a place like this.

"Right, never mind, you just keep pacing." With that Steve returned to his book and turned his concentration away from the worried turtle.

Though he didn't show it, Steve was beginning to get worried too, Eric and Annie weren't back yet either, and the work crews were usually in by now. The fact that neither crew was in yet told him that there had been trouble during the day. He didn't say anything though because he knew that it would just put the pacing turtle more on edge.

At long last the door opened. Eric and Mikey entered, finally home from their assignment.

"Mikey!" Leo cried out. "Eric!" He paused a moment realizing that there had been a third person sent with their workgroup. "Where's Raph?" He didn't know why he had even asked. He was fairly certain he knew exactly what had happened, and Raph had gotten himself into trouble again.

"He, uh…" Mikey started, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he tended to do when he was unsure of how best to explain something. "He uh, got into a little trouble. He hit one of the guards."

"They took him to…" Eric started to interrupt Mikey's explanation, but he was cut off by Annie rushing in the door.

"ANNIE! Are you ok?" Steve asked worriedly. He had never seen the girl this distraught. And as he looked more closely she had a black eye and several bruises on her face. He guessed that there were more of them hidden by her clothes. Something big had gone on with her crew today.

"I'm fine, but they got Don! They took him to the _Course_." Leo felt a little left out when everyone else, including Mikey, reacted in horror.

"Uh, what's the course?" Leo felt like an idiot having to ask the question, especially since Mikey obviously knew what it was. He hated feeling out of the loop.

"Certain death," Eric said. "That's where they took Raph too."

"Not certain, just highly likely," Steve corrected. He noticed that it didn't seem to help the blue-banded turtle's nervousness.

"I don't know if this helps any." Annie said to Leo and Mikey when she had finally calmed down. She herself had only escaped being taken to the Course as well because Donnie had been so effective in his distraction. The guards were so focused on him that they didn't notice anyone who was attempting to help him. "But the actions that got Donnie sent to the Course allowed 179 women to cross the river and escape this place."

"Typical Donnie," Mikey quipped, "Always sticking his neck out for others when he should be pulling it back inside his shell." He was upset; it was bad enough that one brother had been sent to the Course, and now to find that two had wound up there. He sighed and plopped down on Raph's bed. His hot-headed brother wasn't going to need it for a while anyway. Face in his hands he decided that he couldn't really blame Donnie. Any one of them would have done the same thing given the opportunity. Heck, he couldn't even bring himself to blame Raph. It was typical of the hot-head, but even he had his reasons.

"It does help, Annie. Thank you." Leo said touching the scared girl's shoulder reassuringly. "Why don't you tell us what happened."

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CRASH A flying chair collided with a hapless wall and shattered upon impact. Splinter flinched at the noise and the loss of another piece of furniture to the one man cyclone.

"Where are they!" Casey raged.

"Casey, calm down, we'll find them." April reassured the rampaging man. She knew that Casey meant well, but destroying the turtles' lair wasn't going to bring them home any faster. She saw Splinter drop his head and take a deep breath. She wasn't sure if it was calming himself after Casey's outburst, or his worry finally getting the better of him. She decided that it was probably a little bit of each.

"There's no sign of 'em. There's nothin'!" Casey was still angry, but at least he had stopped throwing the lair's sparse furnishings.

"They are out there. Somewhere is a clue to where they have been taken. We just need to look in the right place." Splinter asserted. "I wish to cover the ground where they were going to do their run again." The old rat stood and made ready to leave.

"We will all look again." April added. She thought for a moment before stumbling on an idea. "Why don't we take the battle-shell? The tracker might find something."

Splinter bowed slightly to April. "I believe that is a good idea, though I would like to follow their path on foot one more time."

April nodded in understanding and before she had a chance to speak again Splinter had slipped out of the lair.

"Come on Casey. You can help me with the scanner." She couldn't believe that they hadn't thought of taking the rig out earlier.

No more than 10 minutes into the drive April had switched seats with Casey. He now drove and she was working the scanner. She knew that Donatello had trackers all over the place but had still been surprised when she picked up one of the signals.

"Casey! STOP!" She double checked the scanner and decided that this was definitely a good signal though she didn't know what the signal was for. Part of her hoped that it was one of the guys, but she also worried about what they might find. The signal was alone. If it was the turtles there should have been four of them.

She searched the battle-shell for a portable tracker pulling open anything that seemed to be a door or drawer or compartment that might open while Casey looked on with curiosity. Donatello had surely taken a tracker with him when they had disappeared, but she hoped that he had more than that. She pulled open another compartment and hit pay dirt. The tracker freed from its hidden prison, she opened the back door and let herself out of the truck.

She wasn't entirely sure how to operate the portable tracker, but Donatello had built it user-friendly enough that she was able to figure out what she needed to know. Don would have known what they were following, but she figured they would find out soon enough.

The signal led April and Casey to the roof of the building. Some sort of fight had obviously occurred here recently. They were quite a way from the path the turtles had expected to take, but it looked like they might have been here.

"April!" Casey called out. Upon arriving at the spot he indicated April spotted a smashed shell cell lying on the roof, a silent witness to the events of the previous evening.

April pulled out her own phone and called Splinter.

--

Several minutes later the trio stood together on the roof top. Splinter held the crushed shell cell in his paws. Casey and April had already conducted a cursory search of the rooftop, but Splinter had not yet had the chance to take a look. He began with what looked to be the focal point of fight. It wasn't long before his search bore fruit. He discovered a small dart embedded deep in the rooftop. Carefully removing it from its resting place he ascertained that the dart had a single point and three sharp fins.

Further search of the roof revealed several more of the darts and Splinter knew that his sons had fought well before being overcome by their foes. He was careful about all contact with the darts and cautioned April and Casey similarly. The sight of the darts sent shivers up Splinter's spine. This wasn't like most of the foes they had fought in the past. His mind drifted to the crazed cult that his sons had told him about over the past couple of months and he wondered if this was their doing. He could think of no others who would wish them harm at the moment.

Gathering up as many of the darts as he dared Splinter pocketed the objects and returned to the lair with Casey and April in the battle-shell. Now they at least had a clue to go on. Right now it was just a dart that didn't mean anything to them, but hopefully a little digging would reward them with some more solid evidence of the turtles' location.

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When Donatello woke up he didn't know where he was. It certainly wasn't the barracks where he had woken up last time. When he finally remembered why he was waking up he decided that one wouldn't really expect to wake up there anyway. He sighed and shifted on the floor. Just when he started asking himself what he had been thinking the number 179 started repeating itself in his head, 179, over and over, 179. He tried desperately to recall what 179 referred to. Just when he had been about to give up he remembered.

"_Well, 36 remain, including this one, and we started with 215, so… 179 inmates escaped sir." _

He wondered vaguely whether Annie was one of the 179 or the 36. _35,_ He corrected himself. _ I'm number 36. _It didn't matter; he had other things to worry about. He heard voices and the sound of rattling keys. He looked up and found himself face to face with the guard from earlier.

"Well, well, well. The troublemaker is about to tangle with the Course. Good Luck Turtle." The guard's tone dripped sarcasm and he had spat the last word. Donatello cringed as he realized that he had no idea what the Course was. No time to worry about it though. He would find out soon enough. "On your feet, Turtle!"

Don pushed through the remaining haze from being knocked out and struggled to stand. The guard took great pleasure in knocking him ever again.

"I said on your feet, slime. You have to do better than that."

"Hey George," another voice called out, "Let's get a move on."

"Coming," The guard called back. "Come along, turtle, I'm going to enjoy this."

Donatello met the guard's eyes and showed no fear, he even had a small knowing smile on his face, but on the inside he was trembling like a leaf.

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Raphael had been pacing in his cell for the last several hours. He had known that taking a swing at the guard had been a bad idea, but somehow that didn't stop him from doing it. The guard who now nursed a broken nose and a black eye had been picking on the poor guy next to Raphael. The slight older man had been having some trouble with the fencing that they were putting up. Though Raph had done everything he could to try to assist the man in keeping pace the guards still picked on the guy. When the shock stick came out it had been the last straw and Raphael had taken out his frustrations on the nearest guard.

During the little distraction 20 men had slipped away and as far as Raphael knew they had been successful in their escape attempt, so he figured something good had come of the incident. This though, was definitely not good. He had heard some awful things about the Course, as it was called. He pushed any concerns to the back of his mind. They were the last thing he needed now, guards could be heard a short way down the hall, it was just about time. Raph, tough guy mask firmly in place, was ready to do this, whatever this was.

Silent and much more intimidating guards than the ones earlier unlocked the door to his cell. Raphael followed them, equally silently, out of the cellblock and into the late afternoon sun. He watched as other prisoners slated for the evening's run were gathered in the courtyard before being taken to the building that housed the dreaded Course. Then he saw the last person he ever expected to be here.

A/N: I hate to do this, but it's a good place to stop for now. You all know who he sees right?

GAH! People keep asking me for some Mikey action. I admittedly have trouble writing Mikey. Just about everything he does surprises me, which makes getting inside his head difficult. Whenever I write him he always seems to come off flat, or I leave everyone thinking _'now where the shell did that come from?'_ There has to be some middle ground somewhere so I'll see what I can do. There are several other things that have to happen first, as they have already been written, so it might be a while but rest assured that I accept the challenge and I am working on it. The turtles are a group of four and all four will have a part in this.


	7. Chapter 6

Nalong - Chapter 6

Disclaimer: If you still think I own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you are very, very wrong. The same applies of you think I get paid for this. Please don't sue.

I had a couple of questions about the title of this story. You haven't missed anything symbolic relating to the title yet. Nalong is symbolic to the story and an explanation is coming, I promise, but explanation now is premature.

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"Oh come on Leo! There's gotta be something we can do?" Mikey insisted.

"Like what? You got any bright ideas? Because I'm fresh out!" Leo snapped, leaving Mikey a little taken aback at his harsh tone. "Oh, geez Mike, I'm sorry, I just…"

"No Leo, it's ok." Mikey replied seriously. After a moment he brightened. "Hey, I don't know what we're all worried about. We've beaten the odds a thousand times, so what's one more? By tomorrow Don and Raph will be back if for no other reason than to make sure that you don't go all angst-y big brother who must take himself WAY too seriously and blame himself for everything bad that happens." Mikey said, imitating Leo by crossing his arms high on his plastron and lowering his voice just a little. He returned to his normal bright tone and continued. "They wouldn't dare leave me with that!"

Leo laughed a little. "I think you're wrong Mikey. They'll be back alright, but it will be to save me from putting up with your bad jokes!"

They heard small snorts of laughter from Annie, and Eric.

"You're not supposed to think that's funny." Mikey informed them, which only made them laugh more. "Leo is Mr. Serious, he's the straight man."

"You know, Abbott got as many laughs as Costello, if not more." Eric told him.

"Why am I not surprised you know that? There is no way you could have been alive then..." Mikey hesitated a moment realizing that he didn't know why Eric, Annie and Steve were here. Maybe Eric HAD been alive for those films. "You weren't alive then, right?" He continued unsurely.

"Hey, those films are classics!" Eric had to laugh at the look on Mikey's face, and the one on Leo's for that matter. "And no, I wasn't alive then. It's called the magic of VHS and DVD."

"Which, since you seem to know who he's talking about, I assume you are familiar with." Annie put in.

"He got paid more too." Steve added of Abbot as he put the book down.

"Ok, so it might have been a bad choice of words. But Leo's not supposed to be funny!" Mikey grumbled.

Leo was honestly smiling now and Mikey knew that his work here was done. Now he just had to convince himself. Raph and Donnie would be back. They had to come back, they just had to.

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"April, you sure you know what you're doing?" Casey asked.

"Yes Casey. It's just chemistry." They were in Don's lab area and April was trying to figure out just what was on those darts. Knowing what poison has been used might be able to narrow down the places where the Turtles could be. She was also waiting for a phone call from the manufacturer of the darts. She had searched the type of dart and had stumbled on the manufacturer's website. Now it was just a matter of figuring out who the buyer was. That was going to be the tough part.

Casey watched as April swabbed one of the darts and dropped the swab into a test tube. She added a clear liquid that Casey didn't know the name of and swirled the test tube gently. Nothing happened and he heard April sigh. She picked up a pencil and scratched out another name on her list of possible poisons and tranquilizers.

"One down, only a couple hundred more to go." She muttered.

Splinter allowed himself a small smile at the comment. All he could do for now was wait and allow April to work.

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"Yo, Donnie!" Raphael called across the group as he worked his way to his purple-clad brother. As he shoved his way through the group he wondered if these idiots had figured out that they were brothers yet.

"Raph? What are you…? Never mind. I don't even know why I was surprised." Don was divided about seeing his brother here. Part of him was upset that Raph had gotten into trouble and was now facing the Course, which Annie had told him most didn't survive, but another part of him was glad that he didn't have to do this alone.

Raphael glared at Donnie for a moment before softening his expression. Don did have a point. Raph had noticed that Don was using English. He also spoke in that silly falsetto voice he'd used with Leo the night before. That told Raph two important things: A) that the guards knew that they spoke English, and B) the morons still thought Don was a girl.

"I gotta admit Donnie; you're the last person I expected to see here." Raphael responded in English with genuine shock his voice. He couldn't imagine Donnie doing anything that would get him in this much trouble, yet here was his quiet, pacifist brother in the group to take on the Course right along side him. "What did you do to wind up here?"

"They had us carrying water." Don stated with a shrug as if it meant something, too bad Raph couldn't figure out what it was supposed to mean. Noticing the look he received from Raph Don continued. "They gave me a tenbin to carry a couple of buckets on." He explained, still in that odd voice.

"You're kidding!" Raph couldn't believe this. "They just handed you a bo and expected what?"

"They didn't expect what they got." A sly smile crossed Don's features and Raphael had to laugh.

"You little devil! This is so great! I can't wait to see Leo's face when he finds out." Raph considered this new information but still didn't know why Don had done what he did. Finally he had to ask.

"179 prisoners escaped across the river," was Don's only response.

Now that explained everything. Raphael knew that Don's reason for getting into trouble would be a good one, and this was a good reason. At this moment he was very proud to call Donatello his brother.

"So, uh, what'd you do?" Don inquired. Raph had been afraid he'd ask that.

"I knocked a guard unconscious." Raph was going to let it go at that, but Don wasn't about to let him get off that easily. Donatello had two favorite questions, why and how. He already knew the how and Raphael could see the other question written on his brother's face. Don was silently asking him to continue.

"The jerk was picking on some old man, coming after him with a shock stick over nothing. He was really too old to keep the pace they expected anyway. I got angry and I hit the guard." Raph explained. He hit his palm with the other hand as he continued. "Just one punch and the guy fell down and went out like a light. It was pathetic really. Some guys, maybe 20 or so, got away in the commotion."

Raphael was terrified of what Don's reaction would be, and he looked down at the dirt as they walked after the crowd. Raph's hotheadedness had gotten him in here and only 20 had escaped compared to Don's 179. What he got hadn't been what he expected, Donatello smiled.

"You did good Raph." Donatello was whispering now. He felt really stupid talking in that falsetto voice he'd been using. A whisper was a whisper right? Not using vocal cords made the sound genderless.

"What?" Raphael had heard his brother just fine, but he was confused by what he had heard.

"You stood up for someone who couldn't stand up for himself, and to top it off you gave some people a chance to escape. I can think of no better reason to be stuck here." Don put a hand on Raph's shell.

"Hey Lovebirds, hands to yourself!"

Don immediately pulled his hand back, but he was fuming inside. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly releasing the anger from his system. From the look on Raphael's face he was just as angry, and about to…, well, do what Don really wanted to do at the moment, but all the same that couldn't be allowed now.

"No Raph! We're in enough trouble as it is." Don warned in a loud whisper. He was ready to restrain Raph if necessary, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. Restraining him would require physical contact and the guards had already objected to that.

The red banded turtle took a deep breath, held it a moment then let it out. Only then, when he recognized that Don had just done the same, did he realize how often he'd seen Donnie doing that. Don's patience was second only to Splinter's and Raphael had often wondered how his brother did it. It wasn't that Donatello never got mad, Raphael himself had tested Don's patience to the breaking point more than once, but it took a lot. Usually Donnie was already tired and/or frustrated and something small would set him off. Then there was that time with the sewer slider... But no matter how angry Don got it never lasted long. Once he had a moment to scream that was usually that, and he was back to his pacifist self. Raphael realized now that his brainiac brother did naturally what Raph himself had to be reminded to do. He pushed that piece of information to the back of his mind to focus instead on the task at hand, as they were rapidly approaching a large building that could be none other than the Course.

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Course runs were only done when enough prisoners had caused trouble to make it worthwhile, and with the trouble Don and Raph had instigated today, that number was high enough to run the Course this evening.

All 17 inmates slated for this evening's Course entered the building. The small room they were left in looked like it might have once been a walk-in freezer. As the guards exited they closed the door and locked it from the outside.

"What is this Donnie?"

"I don't know Raph." Now that the guards were gone he had returned to his normal voice. "If I had to guess…"

Don was cut-off by the sound of gas rushing into the room.

"I'd say it was a gas chamber." He finished. After thinking for a moment he continued. "It's called the Course right, so there's got to be a way out of here. It's not just a gas chamber." Don looked around for a moment then pointed across the room to a small terminal on the far wall. "Over there!" Around them the other prisoners were panicking and preventing Raph and Don from reaching the terminal. Attempts to push through the terrified group proved futile.

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A/N: The last section is about where the dream started. So I'm warning you now, it's about to get weird. I know that I said Mikey had a cameo in the dream, but he's not going to be here. Mikey and Leo are still in the barrack with Steve, Eric and Annie. Also I have kept the PG-13 rating, and the Course is where I believe it will be most applicable, just a warning. I don't think it's that bad but better safe than sorry right? Ok, so now Raph and Don are officially in the Course and that is going to be the focus of the next chapter. Mikey and Leo are going to have to wait a while, but they will be back in action soon!


	8. Chapter 7: The Course!

Nalong - Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I've said it before and I'll say it again, Man I love being a turtle. Wait… that's not right! I'm not a turtle, just a lowly amateur fanfic author. Let's try this again shall we. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't own the TMNT or associated characters. I make no profit from these little stories. Please don't sue. There, that's better. (grins sheepishly)

**A/N: **To all of you who have reviewed this little piece so far THANK YOU. YOU ARE THE BEST! (Does a little happy-dance)

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"Oh this is stupid!" Raph growled. He was getting annoyed with the goings on around him and decided to try a new tactic. "Here Don." Raph interlaced his fingers.

Donatello immediately recognized his brother's intensions. A two step running start, and one foot planted into Raph's hands gave him enough of a leg up to leap and flip over the panicking prisoners to reach the terminal. Once there he worked at cutting off the gas or opening some door or, preferably, both. Raphael continued to fight his way through the crowd toward the otherwise clear area Donnie now occupied. Almost as soon as Raph reached his brother, a section of the wall slid away revealing another room. Together they hurried to the new room and moved aside in an attempt to avoid the crush of people behind them.

The walls of the new room were completely covered with mirrors. Donatello guessed that their captors were on the other side of that glass. In the center of the room stood a complex configuration of what looked like it had once been pieces of a children's playground. The brightly colored equipment made this whole thing seem that much more perverse.

"What is this, some kind of sick joke?" Raphael growled under his breath. It was just loud enough for Donatello to hear.

"It's twisted alright, though I doubt very much that it's a joke." He responded quietly.

Small colorful globs of clay lay around the room, coating the floor. It was just another brightly colored oddity in this nightmare of a place. Donatello gathered up a couple globs of the clay and tucked it into his belt, Raphael did the same. The crush of people who had followed them through the newly opened door also noticed the clay on the floor and began using it as a weapon against each other. Don and Raph both found the behavior incomprehensible, and for a moment stood gaping at the scene before them. A few globs of clay flew their way and it was time to try to put a stop to this.

"HEY!" Raphael shouted getting the attention of most of the prisoners. "What do you think you're doing? We're all on the same side! This isn't last man standing!"

"We have been told that it is!" One man shouted out.

"How would you know? You only just arrived." Another voice called.

"I know that it is called the Course." Raphael yelled over the ruckus that had sprung up. "Now I don't know about you, but to me, the name and what is standing in front of me implies that this is an obstacle course. Not a fight to the death!"

"Aw, what do you know Turtle!" Raph was getting really tired of hearing that word spat like that. He could understand it from the moron captors, but from other prisoners it was just shocking. Donatello's restraining hand on Raph's shell reminded him to calm down.

"There's nothing we can do for them Raph. If they would rather beat each other up than get out of here alive, then that is the way things will have to be. Let's just try to get through this thing." With that Donatello and Raphael started making their way to the first obstacle. It seemed to be a standard wall, the only concrete in the brightly colored room. Just as they were about to reach it a voice called out to them.

"Hey, wait up!" It was a man's voice and there were five other people with him. "We agree with you. Maybe together our chances of survival are greater."

"Then pocket some of that clay, and let's go." Donatello shouted over the noise of the fighting in a voice only slightly higher pitched than normal. The room was too loud and he needed to shout to be heard, which he couldn't do while disguising his voice, and at this point he didn't care if the guards heard anyway.

Donatello and Raphael assisted the others over the wall before bounding over themselves. It wasn't that high and they could jump to the top easily.

On the other side of the wall they were able to get a better view of the monster play ground. The plastic tubes and walls were covered in various dangers. Several had spikes poking through the sides and others, razor blades running along their length. A few were coated in some sort of chemical. Many looked slick and one false move would result in sliding into the spikes, razors or falling off the course entirely. Under some of the higher sections were pools. Don pulled a small piece of clay from the blob in his belt and tossed it into the nearest of the pools. The group of seven looked on horrified as the piece disintegrated in a matter of moments.

"Acid," Don said in a slightly shocked whisper. He raised his voice a little "Don't fall in the pools."

"Good suggestion." Raph replied with wide eyes.

"MT 824, Careful!" a voice called out as Don started to climb into the first tunnel. The accent made the word 'careful' sound more like 'keh-full' to his ears. It startled him enough to pull back out just in time to avoid a blade that slid up through the tunnel. He watched warily as it retracted and a moment later it sliced up once again. From the reactions of the others they too had heard the shout. Donatello searched for the source, but try as he might he saw no one.

"Uh, I think we'll need to time this one." Don suggested. He waited a moment as the blade sliced up, then leapt through the opening as soon as it retracted sufficiently. Raphael followed on the next pass. The others stayed where they were and made no move to get by the obstacle

"We're expected to go through that?" One man asked incredulously.

"It is an obstacle course, and as I recall we're not meant to survive it." Raphael reminded the man harshly as the blade sliced up once again.

"All we can do is try to get through it and beat the odds." Don added. "As soon as the blade retracts you have a chance to jump through, timing is essential, but you can make it."

A woman in her mid-20's who was standing near the man who had complained shrugged her shoulders and at the next opportunity leapt through the opening of the tunnel and successfully emerged on the other side by Raph and Don. Eventually the remaining people who had followed the turtles instead of fighting with the other prisoners all made it through the first obstacle without anymore problems.

On the other side of the tunnel they came to a junction. Donatello started one way across a rope bridge and Raphael headed the other way toward another tunnel followed by a balance beam.

"Careful MT 811. MT 824 not that way." The same strange voice rang out. Donatello immediately turned around and headed toward Raphael.

"Know what he's talking about Raph?" Don asked as he pushed through the group to reach his brother.

"All I see is this goo on the bottom." He looked to his brother for what the stuff might be.

Donatello had no idea what it was; all he could do was shrug.

"Guess we don't touch it then." Raphael started across the tunnel careful to keep both hands and feet firmly against the sides and avoiding contact with the bottom of the new tunnel.

Donatello followed him, and the group cautiously continued through the Course. The man who had complained earlier accidentally touched the goo on the floor and immediately his hand started stinging. He shouted out in pain, almost dropping completely to the floor. In response the others encouraged him, saying he was almost there and that he could make it. He forced himself across the tunnel and when he emerged on the other side another man ripped off one of his sleeves and used it to get as much of the goo off as possible. The piece of cloth was then discarded into the pool waiting below the next obstacle: a balance beam.

There was no new warning from the strange voice so Raphael figured that it was probably just a balance beam. No problem at all for Donnie or himself, but it might be for these other people. Nevertheless they had to cross it. Raphael started across followed closely by Donatello. About halfway across Don heard a cry from one of the people behind him, the guy in the back he realized. Immediately he leapt into the air and after flipping once landed as silently as a cat, as he had been trained to do, on the beam behind the falling man. Don quickly reached out and caught the guy's hand. Unfortunately in the process of leaping over the group he had also started the woman behind him. Raphael's quick reflexes caught her hand and he carefully pulled her back onto the beam as Donatello did the same for the guy in the back. The two who had almost fallen were just about steadied on the beam when another lost his balance. Both turtles were otherwise occupied and were unable to help the third victim of the beam. He was trying to catch his balance again when an over-correction caused him to suddenly pitch over and fall to the waiting pool of acid below.

"NO!" Don shouted, never releasing his grip on the man he was still assisting. Raphael quickly reached the far side and hurried the other people across. Donatello watched in horror as the once clear liquid below started bubbling and changing color. He averted his gaze and concentrated on the task at hand. Now was not the time to worry about the incident if he wanted to get through this alive. Unlike Donatello, the man he had been trying to assist could not pull his eyes from the scene below. The turtle had tried to pull his attention back to the present, but it was to no avail. Finally Don just picked him up and hurried across the balance beam. Reaching the other side he put the man down and tried to force the image of the bubbling pool to the back of his mind. He wasn't having much success so he closed his eyes against the scene, only to see it in his mind's eye even more clearly. Raphael noticed his brother's distress. He himself had not seen the man fall and had only briefly seen the bubbles in the pool. Don however had witnessed the whole thing and Raph knew his brother was taking the stranger's death too hard. He knew that Donatello would keep his head, but his brother was hurting.

"You can't save them all Donnie." It probably came off harsher than he meant, but he wasn't good that this sort of stuff.

"I know," Don replied. He closed his eyes again and forced his focus back to the task at hand. "Let's get moving."

Raphael nodded and forged ahead. Every so often they were warned of hidden dangers by the strange voice. At junctions Don would go one way and Raph would go the other. The voice always told them when they were headed the wrong way. And they just hoped that they could trust it. The remaining group of six soon came to a long narrow walkway with a new and very slippery substance coating the bottom. The walls were covered in long spikes, and looked as though they would fall away causing an individual who connected with too much force to crash through and fall into the waiting pool below. Donatello intensely hoped that it would not come to that. He didn't want to see that again, and he was sure that the rest felt the same way.

Raphael led the way this time, sliding along the floor as though he were on a snowboard. Donatello followed and the rest of the group had taken customary positions in line. The only ones that really changed places were Don and Raph who took turns navigating each obstacle first.

The woman who had followed Raphael and Donatello most closely lightly connected with the walls and sliced her arm on one of the spikes. Thankfully, she did not fall through the wall, but she was bleeding pretty badly. The next man soon followed and, already missing one sleeve of his long-sleeve shirt he ripped off the other one and tied it tightly around her upper arm in a make-shift bandage. Raphael and Donatello watched in amazement as the next woman slid across and instead of crashing through the wall where her initial trajectory would have taken her, she abruptly turned and came careening off the path right by the four already across.

"How did you… How'd you…wha'…?" Don started eyes wide and mouth agape.

"It's almost, but not quite levitation," the woman answered matter-of-factly.

"Your 'mutation'?" Donatello asked with raised eye ridges.

The woman simply nodded. Moments later the last man crossed. He was the one who had complained at first. Now he was far past that and an uncompromising determination to beat this stupid Course had set in.

Shortly the group came upon a small platform that it seemed they had to climb onto. It appeared to be some sort of very narrow elevator. Donatello could see that, with their shells, it was going to be a tight fit for Raph and himself, but the others shouldn't have a problem with it. "Careful MT 824," came the voice over the loudspeaker. Donatello didn't see any goo, spikes or razors. He figured that the platform had to be some sort of elevator. Warily, he stepped on and crouched down on a hunch. If they had been warned about it then it wasn't a standard elevator.

The platform started to move and as Don had expected it wasn't normal. A second platform snapped into place nearly taking off his head. Don pulled his head down as quickly as he could and it was just in time. The slow downward movement continued for a long time and when it finally stopped he found himself in a new room. Again the walls were covered in mirrors, but this room lacked the sadistic play equipment. In fact this new room seemed nearly empty. To his left a large pool extended across the room and straight ahead was a smaller section of the pool that could easily be jumped to a lower platform. He made the jump and waited for the others to come through. They did so in the normal order, and as they started coming through Donnie jumped to the ground from the lower platform giving the rest space to come through. He approached the door at the far end of the room as soon as Raph made it to the lower platform and the now familiar cry was heard as he neared the door.

"Careful MT 824."

Donatello froze. He didn't see anything, but there was obviously something there or he wouldn't have been warned about it, and the voice had yet to lie to him. He took several steps back from the door. As more of the group exited the elevator he hurried back over to the middle of the room to wait for them.

'Almost levitation' lady came though and hurried over to where Donatello and the two other humans stood while Raphael waited for the last man to come through. She spotted the door and ran to it.

"Yes! A door!" She cried as she raced to it and reached for the handle.

"No, WAIT!" Donatello shouted, but it was too late. She had already grabbed onto the handle.

Electricity shot through her body. Instead of throwing her back she latched on more tightly to the electrified door handle. There was nothing to do for her now. Some little part of Don's mind told him that, based on what happened to the girl, there was probably a current in excess of 25 AC amps running through that door handle. He really wanted that part of his brain to shut up right now.

"Everyone, I need your clay!" Don shouted running back toward the group in the center of the room. They handed over their clay and Donnie took the double fist sized wad and as quickly as he could and formed it into an inch thick pancake. He tore the pancake in half as he reached the woman and the door. Using the clay as insulation, a strong shove ripped her hand from the door. She fell to the floor with a thud, and smoke rose from her now lifeless body.

"Oh why did you have to be so rash?" He moaned softly closing his eyes. He felt an unsure hand on his shoulder and turned to find Raphael there and looking a little uncomfortable. He sighed and pushed the strange girl from his mind along with the man on the balance beam, instead focusing on what he had to do now.

The group, now five in all, stood at the doorway. Don opened the door carefully using the clay and held it open for the others to pass through before entering the next room himself. What he found on the other side of the door shocked even him.

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Ooh, I think that this is a good place to leave it for now, don't you?  
See, I told you it was a weird dream.

I watched the H.A.T.E episode this morning and in it I saw a lot of parallels to this story, mostly involving the H.A.T.E. guys. They have a similar mentality to this cult, though their methods were very different. Also it was a Don and Raph-centric episode! That pairing alone makes it one of my favorite episodes ever! WOOHOO! I absolutely LOVE Raph and Don interactions as you have probably noticed, (Raphael and Donatello are the principle characters in _Shocking Delight_ too) it is really too bad that they are so rare!


	9. Chapter 8

Nalong - Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Turtles, April, Casey or Splinter, or Leatherhead. They are the property of people who are not me. I'm just borrowing them and their amazing little world for a little while. I'll put them back when I'm done, I promise. I guess the OCs are mine though. Also I do not get paid for this. Please don't sure me. I have no money anyway.

I'm going to explain the title this time around! That way you can quit nagging me! hehe. Actually the title has been explained here since I got wrote the rough draft of this chapter. I will also explain the voice.

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_--Two minutes earlier--_

Splinter, deep in meditation, felt an anguished cry from one of his sons. The cry was short-lived and he only just figured out who shouted before it ended. His eyes snapped open.

"Donatello!"

He calmed himself again and looked back at the mental shout. It wasn't due to a physical pain, but an emotional one. This was a cry resulting from the turtle being called upon to do something he was truly disturbed by, or a feeling that he had somehow failed someone. The wise old rat knew that the turtle in question was not prone to this sort of mental shout, and that was troubling. Delving deeper Splinter was relieved to find that, at least as far as Donatello knew, his family was ok. Splinter could only hope that his other sons were with the distressed turtle and that they would be able to recognize his pain and assist him in dealing with it.

One more vital piece of information was gathered in that short yelp. His sons were far away. They were no longer in New York. Beyond that he had nothing more to go on. He stood and headed to the main room. Casey was watching TV, and Splinter could hear April thank someone and hang up the phone.

"Oh, there you are." She seemed startled at Splinter's presence. "That was Secodart. They are the company that designed the darts we found on the roof."

All eyes immediately went to her. Casey turned around on the couch, the TV completely forgotten, and Splinter's attention was undivided.

"They have 5 major purchasers of that particular dart, three of which are in New York. So now it is just a matter of finding out which of those three…"

"They are not in New York." Splinter stated with a calm confidence.

"Huh? What're ya talking about?" Casey asked, just starting to show his characteristic impatience, but a bit of worry also colored the question. Splinter quickly explained.

"Donatello cried out a short time ago. I am sure that they are, or at least Donatello is, out of the state. I can not be absolutely sure of the others, but I believe that they are either with him or nearby. They are ok for now, but it is rapidly becoming urgent that we find them."

"huh? Casey looked to April for translation.

"They're not in the state, but they're ok, and we better find them fast."

"Oh"

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The evening had long since passed into night and Leonardo and Michelangelo were very worried about the fate of their brothers. Lights out had been an hour previous and still Don and Raph were gone. Part of Leo couldn't help but wonder if it was for good. Another part insisted that he would have known if harm had come to either of them. They had to be alive somewhere, they just weren't here.

Leo shifted in his bed and looked over to Mikey who had taken his spot back on the top bunk next to Leo. Michelangelo met his eyes and confirmed Leo's suspicions that Mikey was just as worried as he was. They knew it was going to be a long night without their brothers below them, and tomorrow was going to be an even longer day if they didn't get some sleep. But sleep would not come.

Michelangelo and Eric had explained the incident that had resulted in Raphael being sent to the Course and Annie had explained Donnie's actions. From the descriptions Leo couldn't fault either brother, well _maybe_ Raph, but he would not expect either to react in any other way. He even had to laugh at the guards' stupidity in handing Don a tenbin. What they had expected Leo couldn't imagine. In fact, any one of the turtles in that situation would have probably done the exact same thing. They were all well trained and could hold their own with any brother's weapon as well as several others. But come on, these guys HAD to know that Don was the bo staff bro... Ok, never mind, maybe they actually were that dense. All the same, they had been fighting these guys for two months before they had been captured.

It was just their first day here and the turtles were already being underestimated. That thought gave him some hope for Don and Raph's safety. That knowledge was a small ray of sunshine that broke through the storm clouds overhead.

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What Donnie found on the other side of that door had to be just about the last thing he expected. He had expected another torturous room of the Course, or the guards waiting to force some other form of punishment on them. That wasn't what was there… Donatello stared at the lizard. He never figured he'd stare at something that was no stranger than himself. They hadn't really stared at Leatherhead, yet here he stood, staring and wondering just what he was supposed to make of this situation. Beside him he felt Raphael drop into a defensive posture. Out of habit more than anything else Donnie followed suit.

"You have done well." The lizard praised them. Donatello recognized his voice and it snapped him back to the present. It was the same voice, the one that had helped them through the course, but there was also something different about it, it seemed less nebulous now. Don relaxed his stance somewhat and the lizard focused his attention on Raphael.

"I am impressed with your strength and spirit young one." Raphael bristled at the words 'young one' but based on the lizard's voice he was quite old, and it hadn't been meant as an insult so, with a glance at his brother, Raph let it slide. He even bowed slightly in respect as he had been taught. The lizard then turned to Donatello.

"You figured out the terminal in the first room, did you not? And you knew what to do with the electrified door. Also you gathered anything you thought might be of use. You have done very well, and like your friend you have strength, both of body and mind. You have succeeded where most fail young man."

Donatello tensed at the final words. Warily he eyed the Lizard and waited for him to continue. He didn't think this guy could be a guard, but if not what was he doing here?

"I am not one of the guards, they shall not know. Their ignorance will be their downfall. I believe you are nalong, the source of a river. With luck it will be a river that leads you out of this place." The creature bowed to Donatello who just stood there looking shocked for a moment before returning to his senses and bowing in return.

"I am afraid that I do not understand."

"You will, young turtle, you will."

There was an uncomfortable silence until the lizard spoke again.

"My name is Nalong," the lizard said. "Though I believe the name would be more fitting for you." He gestured to Donatello who was thoroughly confused and embarrassed at this point. "I am an Eastern Water Dragon or physignathus lesuerii, or rather I was. I am from Queensland, Australia originally."

"That explains the accent!" Donatello exclaimed. Immediately embarrassed by his outburst, his face turned an interesting shade of green. "Sorry."

"There is no need to apologize…" Nalong seemed to be waiting for introductions.

"Oh, uh. My name is Donatello. And I'm rather fond of it, actually." The turtle explained quietly.

"Donatello is a good name." Nalong bowed again to Don who, this time responded much more quickly.

"This is my brother Raphael," Donatello started the introductions, "and… and I don't know anyone else." He admitted.

"My name is Iris." The woman who had followed the turtles most closely through the course said. She had an athletic build, and based on how she took the course, a take it as it comes attitude that acted as part of her survival mechanism in this place. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but the most noticeable thing about her was her eyes. Every color of the rainbow danced there.

"Alejandro," continued the young man with the torn off shirt sleeves. He was a tall, lightly muscled man in his mid-20s and though his name suggested that he was of Hispanic origin he did not look the part. His dark hair and brown eyes were about where the major similarities ended.

"Ben." Ben, who had complained originally about the Course, was only a few inches taller than Raph and Don. He was a stockier fellow and well into his 30s, but was apparently a hard worker who had more than his share of determination once he got going. That had been the strength that had allowed him to survive the Course. His blonde hair was at odds with his dark eyes, and he seemed to keep his hands in his pockets unless it was absolutely necessary to take them out.

"Iris, well that makes sense." Nalong mused. "You were instrumental in the escape of the workers in the field during the disturbance young Donatello here caused today were you not?"

"I guess so," She admitted humbly.

"You were." Nalong insisted before turning to Ben. "And you assisted escapees when Raphael here took out that guard. You were the hand that helped the escapees along."

Ben nodded humbly and Nalong turned to Alejandro.

"Your care for fellow prisoners has not gone unnoticed. You are a helper of mankind, and 'mutant' kind as your name implies."

Nalong bowed again to all the survivors of the Course before turning toward a sound only he heard.

"I must leave now or risk being discovered, but I will see you all again."

With that Nalong slipped away. No one knew where he had vanished to nor how he had done so. Even Raphael and Donatello didn't know where the guy disappeared to. He was simply gone.

"Well, that was downright bizarre." Raphael whispered to Don who just nodded in agreement.

Moments later six guards entered the room.

"Take these freaks to TB8."

"Yes sir."

The guard who had given the order departed, leaving the man who had verbally responded to said order in charge.

The five survivors of the course held out their wrists waiting for the inevitable handcuffs, which were soon clapped on. One of the guards grabbed Raphael by the shell and started to pull him from the room. Donatello set his jaw fighting back anger of his own while hoping Raph didn't do anything rash. He let out a breath he didn't remember holding when he realized that his brother was just going to let the guy pull him out of the room like that with little more than a low growl.

Another guard took hold of Don's shell and he hissed at the man even as a glance around the room told him that three more guards had taken Iris, Ben and Alejandro by the shoulder. The group was lead out of the building and into a part of the complex that Don and Raph hadn't seen before, which didn't surprise them in the least given that this was still their first full day. It was dark now; the late afternoon had faded into evening, then night while they had worked through the Course. Don figured from the looks on his companions faces that they hadn't known about his section of the complex either. That was disturbing. At this point what happened next was anyone's guess.

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A/N: BUM BUM BUUUUM! (glances warily around for **Lunar-ninja **and **chibi-rose-angel**, eyes cubby and considers a lock for it.)

Alright, before anyone thinks otherwise TB is not tuberculosis ok? Now that we have that cleared up…

And, before I have someone chew me out, all I know is that Nalong means Source of the River to at least one Aboriginal tribe (is that the word they use?). What I do not know is where the name is from, but I like the meaning and sound so I used it.


	10. Chapter 9

Nalong - Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Ok, We've had 9 disclaimers already. If you still think I own the turtles or make any money from this will you raise your hand? No one? Not a single person?  
Good. 'cuz I don't. Please don't sue. I do however lay claim to the roomies and Nalong.

A/N: I finally got my alerts to start coming again! Anyone out there who has had the same problem if you log in and go to Email Alerts you might find that they have been disabled. I don't remember ever doing that, but they were! Oh WOW there are so MANY of you out there reading and reviewing! Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to do so! You guys are just AMAZING! And there are several new faces out there too! Welcome!**  
**

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"So uh, where are these buyers supposed to be?" Casey questioned

"What?" April started having been momentarily lost in thought.

"The people who bought the darts, who are they, where do we look? They gotta pay!" Casey was getting angrier with each sentence.

"Calm yourself." Splinter admonished carefully. He was used to dealing with Casey by now, but that didn't mean that it was always easy.

"There is one buyer up in Vermont and another out in Montana. From what the guy on the phone said the Montana people are rather strange."

Splinter nodded. "Montana it is then."

"Dude, you sure about this?" Casey asked. Montana was awfully far away and he was pretty sure the rat hadn't left New York for a trip this long in quite some time, at least not in any conventional method like a car or plane. Try as he might he just didn't see the old rat flying, at least not as a passenger. And imagine if he got patted down at the airport! No, they would not be flying.

"How are we going to get there?" April asked coming to the same conclusion as Casey. Splinter would be unable to fly and even if it was possible there was no way that any of them could afford three last minute tickets to Montana.

Splinter looked around the lair. His eyes fell on the elevator to the surface, the 'weird glowing chamber' that took them to street level. April caught on quickly.

"The battle-shell?"

"We may have need of it when we get there." Splinter replied wisely, "Though I will not even pretend to know how to operate it.

"We'll drive Splinter, it's not a problem." April reassured him.

"We should pack; I want to get on the road as soon as possible."

April and Casey went home to get a few things and when they returned a short while later Splinter had already loaded the truck with everything he could think of that they might need, including spare weapons for his sons, just in case. Before leaving April went down and dug through Donatello's lab for anything that she could recognize as possibly being useful. She packed the items in a red gym bag she had found at home and hurried back to the warehouse where Splinter and Casey were waiting. Digging through the bag she pulled out the keys to the rig and took the wheel.

"Shotgun!" Casey called as he jumped in the passenger seat leaving Splinter in the back. A quick stop at a convenience store supplied them with an atlas and they were on their way.

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Leonardo and Michelangelo slept fitfully. They had no idea what had happened to their brothers and they were worried. Michelangelo's sniffling pulled Leo from his almost-sleep at some point during the night. He had no idea what time it was, but it wasn't yet time to get up, of that he was sure. He looked over at his brother and Mikey, hearing his movement acknowledged his wakefulness.

"Do you think they're ok?" The orange-banded turtle asked quietly.

"I don't know. I haven't…" Leo stopped there. He didn't know what he thought. Part of him insisted that he would know if Don or Raph had been hurt or worse, killed. But he didn't know for sure. He wished he could reassure Mikey. Tell him that everything was fine, that no harm had come to their brothers and that all they had to do was wait for them to be returned. But he couldn't. Leo sighed and forced back tears before he made the small jump to Mikey's bed and pulled the one unanimously thought of as the youngest brother toward him. Mikey didn't object and he reached around Leo. Each clung to the other's presence as though it were a lifeline that could pull him from this living nightmare.

The worst thing was the helplessness they felt. In the past at least they could go look for anyone who had gone missing or who might be in trouble. Here they couldn't even do that. More than ever in his life Leo wanted to be at home with his family, and hidden away from this crazy world.

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Steve had woken when he heard a thump from above. Quietly glancing around the room he noticed that Leonardo had moved over to join Mikey on his bed. Steve silently watched the interaction as it played out above him and truly felt sorry for these strange creatures that had been thrown in their barracks. If there was one thing Steve was sure of it was that he knew a good kid when he met one. And all four of these turtles were good kids, even Raphael. Sure the guy had a temper, but his heart was in the right place. He couldn't help but reflect on how much he had changed.

He thought back to when he first met Eric and Annie. Arriving around the same time the two had latched onto each other quickly. They were good kids who had changed his life and to this day he was thankful for that. His gaze swept to the beds that Eric and Annie had claimed as their own. They deserved so much better than this, and he hoped that one day he could repay the favor that they had done him. This was a wrong that he had helped cause and vowed to, one day, put it right. A small thought crossed his mind; maybe, just maybe, there was a greater purpose for the presence of these four turtles, these four amazing brothers. The last time youths came into his life they had saved him, maybe this time he could save them. Steve was well aware of what Don and Raph had to face before they could return to their family. With all the trouble today the worst was probably behind them, but Steve had no way of knowing for sure anymore. As far as he knew no one had ever completed the course unscathed, but he felt that if there was even a remote possibility that someone could pull it off, that someone might just be these turtles.

Watching the two turtles who were still in the barracks he realized just how close these boys were to each other. Leo had of course told him stories about that closeness for the better part of the day but they were just that, stories. This Steve saw with his own two eyes. It was easy to forget that these turtles were so young for they showed a level of maturity far beyond their years. He reminded himself of the fact that they were little more than children; children who had lost their best friends and brothers and didn't know if they would ever return. Steve's heart broke for them. He wished there was something he could do to help. Not knowing what else he could do, he prayed. He made the prayer as general as it could possibly be silently asking, no, begging whatever higher being might be out there that he or she might protect the two turtles who were still missing this night and watch over the two who remained.

Steve caught Eric's eye when the young man woke up hearing the sniffles from above. Steve had noticed a pronounced change in Eric since the turtles had come into their already crazy lives barely more that 24 hours ago. Eric had smiled last night for the first time in far too long. The young man was very sensitive to the underlying mind sets of others and in here that often worked against him. He was constantly fighting against the current of despair that threatened to drag him under in this place. In just one day these turtles had worked magic on him. Steve had been surprised to receive a reassuring smile from Eric.

"They are releasing the despair they feel. Almost all they have left is hope." Eric explained.

Steve nodded and once again marveled at these amazing creatures… _no,_ he corrected himself, _people_; the amazing people who had been swept into his life. Everyone in this room was a person and even though that thinking still seemed foreign to him every now and then he wasn't about to stop trying to change that.

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The small group of Course survivors was led to a barrack away from the others. The thing looked like it was about to fall apart. It was in much worse shape than the one Raph and Don had been in last night. Inside there were 6 bunks. As soon as the guards had locked the door and left the group alone Donatello immediately went to one of the nearest beds and plunked himself down on the mattress. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands, one of which was pinching the space between his eyes.

Raphael took the bed next to his brother, and concern was written on his face as he started to pay a little more attention to him. Don was doing that eye pinching thing he did when something was wrong. Also he looked a little pale, even for Donnie who was always pale compared to his brothers. Raphael mentally ticked off the things he knew weren't wrong. Sure the Course had been tough, and it had been on top of what Don had done earlier in the day, but there was no way that it had been any harder than other things they had done. So that wasn't the reason. Too bad that was the only thing he could think of that wasn't wrong, and he now had a whole list of things that could be wrong.

Raph hoped it was just that Don was worried about Leo and Mikey, or about what was going to happen now. Heck, maybe the guy was just thinking, he liked to do that. But the pinching thing told Raph otherwise. Something else was bothering Donnie. Maybe it was leftovers from the darts yesterday. Also Raph seemed to think that the vent in the gas chamber had been directly over the terminal that Donnie had cracked to get the door open, so there was a possibility that he was ill due to the gas.

The other incident that leapt to mind was Don shoving the levitation girl away from the electrified door handle. Raph and Don had both taken it upon themselves to make sure that as many of those people made it through the Course as possible, but Raphael had been careful not to think that everyone in their little group would make it. Don tended to be more optimistic, and sometimes the result was that he was disappointed. There were some other major differences in their Course experiences. Raph had not been looking when the first guy fell into the pool, Don had. Also Raph had not been the one to physically force the girl's smoking body away from the door, Don had. It was one thing to take another's life when that person was attacking you, it was quite another when someone you were trying to protect died for nothing like that.

Looking up Raph realized that he wasn't the only one looking at Don, though he was the only one who wasn't staring.

"Hey, is there are reason you're all staring? 'cuz it's not helping things." Raph snipped in harsh tones.

The other three in the room all hurriedly found a bed and sat down looking anywhere but at the two turtles.

"Raph, don't be so hard on them. It's been a long day for everyone." Donatello responded to Raph's comment only in voice. His head was still in his hands and he made no move to change that. . Now Raph was sure something was up.

"Don, what's wrong?"

"I'm just tired."

"Oh don't you give me that 'tired' bit. This is more than that. I'm not dense Donnie, what's wrong?"

Don glanced pointedly at their roommates and made sure that Raph caught the glance before he continued.

"Ok, fine, I don't feel great. I watched two people die in the Course today. One of whom I…" he halted abruptly letting the sentence hang there. "Never mind all the people who just killed themselves with that stupid clay fight. I am tired and I have a headache, is that alright with you?" Don snapped, which was something Raphael only knew Don to do when at least two of three things were wrong: he was tired, frustrated and/or had a headache.

At that point Alejandro stood and approached the two turtles.

"Donatello, is it?" He asked as he knelt by the turtle in purple. "I might be able to help. Do you mind if I…" Alejandro reached out slightly toward Don's head. Donnie shied away for a moment, but in the end allowed the man to do… whatever he was going to do.

Alejandro put one hand across Don's forehead, and wrapped the other, heel to fingertips, around the back of his head. The tall man then applied pressure, gently at first then slowly increasing. As Alejandro increased the pressure Donatello felt himself relax and the pain in his head started to drain away. A few moments later he felt the pressure start to decrease. The headache continued to dissipate, and the moment Alejandro released him completely it was gone. Don stared at the man in bewilderment for a moment.

"How did you do that? Is that why you're here?"

"That? I guess it kind of is, but it's just a little trick Pop, oh… my grandfather taught me when I was a kid. It always seemed to work better for me than it did for him though. These mutant hunters decided that I was too close to an empath for them to leave me alone."

"An empath? So you can take another's pain? Is that what you just did?" Don inquired.

"I guess, though it is more like dissipating it rather than taking it and it doesn't always work." Alejandro admitted with a shrug.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing? I mean couldn't it be used to help humanity, and it seems that you're a decent guy, and that you would use it in that capacity." Don decided then and there that he didn't understand humans. Not that he thought he had before, he was just sure of it now.

"I guess that these guys don't care."

Don nodded sadly and Raphael looked lost. His brother looked much better now than he had a few moments ago so Raph was cool with whatever this trick was but he didn't quite understand it, nor did he totally trust the guy. Raph would be keeping a close eye on Donnie for the next few days. Pressure points were one thing, this was something different entirely.

Alejandro headed back to his own bed and the group was just lying down to sleep, when suddenly Iris got curious.

"Ok, the two turtles I get, Alejandro with the empathy thing I can sort of understand, I have this eye thing. What about you Ben? Why are you here?"

Ben sighed and pulled one hand out from under the covers showing it to the others. There wasn't much light, but there was enough to see that Ben had a sixth finger on that hand.

"Hey, that's nothin'." Donatello insisted holding up his own hand. We've only got three!"

"What, are you channeling Mikey?" Raph inserted. Donnie just shrugged.

"That's it?" Alejandro asked loudly. "That's all they put you in here for?"

"All you've got is some weird empathy thing that doesn't always work, is that reason for you to be here?" Ben asked in chilled tones. "Iris has eyes that are different from the norm. Does that mean she should be here? And even these guys, sure they're turtles, but did they do something to deserve this? I don't think so!"

"That's not what I meant. No one deserves to be here. These people are sick."

"Guys," Donatello called out quietly. The arguing duo didn't seem to hear him so Don tried again a little louder. "Hello! Ben, Alejandro."

"Yo, fellas!" Raph called loudly. That got their attention immediately.

"WHAT?" The two men shouted whipping their heads toward the red masked turtle. They were immediately silenced by the look on Raph's face which they were just able to make out in the dark room.

"You agree. No one deserves to be here, so get some sleep and worry about it later." Raph ordered rather effectively. The two older men complied immediately, and soon the barrack was filled only with the sounds of sleep.

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A/N: Wow, that chapter came out nothing like I expected it to. Guess what I expected will have to be the next one. The trick Alejandro did to help Don's headache is what my Dad does when we complain of one, it really helps. It probably is some sort of pressure point thing. I don't know. Even if it is, what Alejandro did was more than that. Also I have absolutely nothing against Montana. Actually I think that state is beautiful. It's just somewhere that I think something like this could hide. 'Til next time!


	11. Chapter 10

Nalong - Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles. The OCs are my creations if you want to use any of them just ask. Also I make no money from this so please don't sue me. Also I don't own the story of the tortise(turtle) and the hare.

A/N: I was a little worried about the scene in the last chapter with Leo and Mikey, but it looks like those worries were unfounded! Thanks for the reviews y'all!

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It was still dark when the guards came and woke them up; rather rudely Raphael recalled. When the guards came in, two had gone to Donatello's bed and two more had gone to Raphael's. They yanked the mattresses from the beds and Don and Raph tumbled to the floor. Almost as soon as they hit they were on their feet and ready for anything, but they were annoyed with themselves for letting the guards get this far without being noticed.

Alejandro and Iris had snapped awake at the resulting noise and were out of bed quickly, but Ben was still asleep and had been the final recipient of the guards' little wake up call. The group was herded out of the barracks and led to a shower room. Donatello was well aware of what these had been used for in the past, but they had no choice. Hopefully it was really just a shower room. They were then handed small scrub brushes and a bucket of soapy water before being locked in the room with the guards outside. And to top it all off his headache was coming back. He tried to remember the last time he had something to drink and realized that it had been yesterday at breakfast. With everything that had happened since then, Don decided that he was probably dehydrated. Too bad there was absolutely nothing he could do about it just now.

About half an hour into their cleaning job Nalong returned.

"Good morning." He said to anyone who could hear. The five survivors whipped around to see him standing in the center of the room. Raphael shook his head at the guy's uncanny ability to pop out of thin air like that.

"Hello," came the automatic reply from the group on their hands and knees busily scrubbing the floor.

"I have a plan that can get the five of you out of here now." Nalong informed them. You are all powerful beings whose talents allow for this sort of escape.

"No." Donatello said simply.

"What?" Iris asked, shocked at the turtles response. "Don't you want out of here? I thought that last night…"

"Of course I want out of here." Donatello clarified.

"But we can't leave without our brothers." Raphael finished for him.

"Finishing each others' sentences. you guys really are close aren't you?" Ben was surprised.

"We go no where without Leo and Mikey." Raphael insisted. Don nodded in agreement.

"If you wait, this opportunity passes." Nalong warned.

"And eventually a better one will present itself," Donatello insisted, "one that will allow the escape of more that just the 5 of us, no one deserves to be here."

"Is this satisfactory to the rest of you?" Nalong inquired.

"I've passed up the opportunity before." Iris admitted, "What's one more?"

"Same here," Ben stated looking at Raphael.

"You guys are crazy, but I can't fault your reasoning. I too will stay." Alejandro finally agreed.

"You are wise." Nalong told them. "I shall be around. If you need me I'll know." He turned once again to Donatello, who he had evidently taken a liking to. "You will indeed be the source of a river." With that he was gone again.

"What is this? He's there one second then POOF he's gone! Who does this guy think he is?" Raphael asked angrily. "Popping in and out with his crazy talk of escape and never actually helping us, just giving us random cryptic compliments."

"I don't know. He did help us through the Course though." Donatello reminded his brother.

"Yeah, maybe so, but does that mean we should trust him?" Iris put in. "He's kind of strange, and not just in the giant reptile way." It took a moment before she remembered half of the people she was addressing were also giant reptiles. "Oh, sorry guys, I didn't mean any offence"

"None taken. To most people we are strange."

"Just don't let it happen again." Raph growled, scaring Iris, but he had a Raphael version of a smile on his face and Iris, recognizing it for what it was, smiled back.

"I'll try not to."

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An hour later the trumpet sounded, waking up the other prisoners. Donatello sighed as he tossed the scrub brush in the bucket for the last time of the morning. The showers were finally clean. He himself felt truly disgusting at the moment, but somehow had a feeling that wasn't going to change real soon. None of them dared take a shower when they hadn't been told to, even if they were in the room where that was a possibility. The guards returned and ordered the group to line up outside the door of the building to take their assignments for the day. The group issued a collective sigh knowing that they were going to be separated again. Donatello was tired, he felt slimy, he missed his brothers and to top it all off that stupid headache was back with a vengeance. He could just tell that today was going to be a great day.

Work groups came by and each group took one of the Course survivors. As dumb as these guards were they seemed to know better than to put multiple troublemakers in the same workgroup. Donnie had hoped that one of the groups would have someone from their first barracks that, if it wasn't Leo or Mikey, could at least get the message to them that Don and Raph were ok. But no such luck. Donatello was the last one to be taken away today and he wondered, with a certain amount of dread, just what his chore was going to be.

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When Steve woke for the morning he found Leonardo and Michelangelo had fallen asleep against each other. Once again he was reminded of just how young these guys really were. They were sound asleep and didn't notice as Steve got up to prepare for the day. After quietly waking both Eric and Annie from their slumber he turned to the turtles. He hated to wake them, but if he didn't they would be late and that would result in more punishment for them. He gently called their names, but that failed to rouse them. They had to be exhausted, emotionally if nothing else. Steve called them again, this time gently shaking their shoulders. Leo snapped awake and nearly took his head off before realizing that the intrusion was just Steve trying to get them up for the day.

The turtle apologized profusely, but Steve brushed it off saying no apology was necessary and that Leo was entirely forgiven. Leo woke Mikey and hopped down from the bed. He glanced sadly at the places where his other two brothers should have been sleeping and sighed, dropping his head and closing his eyes. Steve put a comforting hand on the young turtle's shoulder. He didn't know what to say so he remained silent. Moments later the trumpet sounded.

"How's about we set a goal today. No one gets taken to the Course." Mikey suggested more brightly than he felt.

"That sounds good Mikey." Leo responded sadly. "That sounds so good." The group headed out the door.

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"Mr. Jones, you are driving much too quickly."

"It's the freeway! You're supposed to drive fast. Besides, there's nothing here to hit!" Casey responded. "And I thought you wanted to get there as quickly as we could."

"Mr. Jones, this vehicle is not properly registered. If we get pulled over we have a very big problem." Splinter waited a moment for that to sink in. When Casey didn't slow down he tried another tactic. "Have you ever heard the story of the 'turtle and the hare'?"

"Uh, isn't it the '_tortoise_ and the hare'?" Casey asked a little confused.

"Not when your young sons are turtles."

"That must have been a bedtime favorite for years." April spoke up from the seat behind Casey. She had to agree with Splinter, Casey was driving too fast.

"Indeed it was, Miss O'Neil, indeed it was." Splinter admitted, there was a hint of sadness in his voice, but he quickly came back to himself. "Do you remember the moral of that story Mr. Jones?"

Casey hazarded a guess, "Uh, something about going slow?"

"Indeed," Splinter agreed, "slow and steady wins the race. It is advice you may wish to take to heart right now."

Casey let up on the accelerator.


	12. Chapter 11

Nalong - Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Do I have to? (lawyer nods) but I already did it 10 times! (lawyer glares) Ok, ok! I don't own the TMNT or any associated characters. I also make no money from this. That is what my day job is for. (Looks in wallet and finds the whole three dollars to her name and a bill for forty) Please don't sue me.  
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The day had been a lot of driving, hard driving, the kind of driving where you stop pretty much only for gas and the occasional 5-minute-max rest stop. April was behind the wheel, and Casey took the passenger seat. Splinter was in the back for fear of being seen. It wasn't terribly likely with the layout the turtles had created for the front of the Battle Shell, but all the same, he felt better in the back.

He had attempted to meditate in the back of the truck, but that was much easier said than done, especially with Casey interrupting every two minutes, so he had settled for reading a book instead. Up to now the trip had been pretty uneventful, and Splinter truly prayed that it would stay that way.

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Steve and Leo were the first to return to the barracks, and Leo didn't like that one little bit. He hated being the first one back because that meant he had to wait to see if anyone else made it. He sighed and started pacing again. In any other situation he would probably have already gone to sleep, but he knew he wouldn't be able to until at least Mikey was back. A rumor had circulated among the prisoners that there had been survivors of last night's Course, and Leo gained a little hope from that. That hope was tempered though, because according to Steve, who wouldn't lie to the turtle, there were always rumors, but the rumors had never been true before. Leo continued to hope that his brothers were ok, but he could never be sure until they physically walked through that door.

Annie was the next to return, she looked almost as tired as Leo felt. He figured that maybe talking to someone else would at least take his mind off his worry.

"Hey Annie, You ok? You look tired." He said sadly as he took a seat on the bed opposite her.

"Yeah, uh, to both." She responded. "I didn't sleep well last night." Looking up and actually seeing Leo she noticed that he looked tired too, which wasn't surprising. She hadn't been able to sleep out of worry for the two roommates, new ones at that, and couldn't imagine what it had to be like for Leo and Mikey. She had heard them crying last night, but hadn't said anything.

"You look like you've seen better days too." She added.

Leo laughed slightly. "Yes, I guess I have." He dropped his head.

"I'm sure they're ok. You should have seen Don yesterday. I tell you, it was amazing." She said in an attempt to cheer up the blue turtle.

Leo smiled sadly and propped his chin on his hands.

"Why don't you tell me about them?" Annie asked. She wondered what Steve had heard about them during the day, and hoped Leo wasn't tired of the stories she looked forward to getting out of the turtle now.

"Really?" Leonardo sounded hopeful, and Annie nodded.

"I don't really know that much about you guys, only what Don told me, and I would like to hear some of your stories. Best moments, worst moments. Whatever you feel a need to tell, I'll listen."

Leonardo was about half-way through telling her about the mousers when the door opened again and Leo jumped off the bed in his haste to find out who it was. Mikey and Eric came in, and while Leo was glad that Mikey was home and alright his heart also sank at the fact that it hadn't been Raph and Don.

Mikey's own optimistic smile faded as he realized that Leo was the only other turtle in the room. He hoped that the disappointment he knew was on his face wasn't taken the wrong way. Sure, he was glad that Leo was alive and safe, but he had really been hoping Raph and Donnie would be there when he got back to the barracks. Seeing Donnie and Raph again had been the thought that kept him going all through his chores, and Eric would attest that he had even been cheerful for most of the day. However, those hopes were dashed at the sight of only one brother. He caught himself thinking how horrible it would be with only Leo and himself, he quashed that line of thought right there. Donnie and Raph had to be ok. They had to be. Suddenly shouting from outside was heard.

"Let me go you little…! Why I oughta…!"

Mikey knew that growl!

The door was slammed open and Raphael was deposited roughly on the floor. He leapt to his feet.

"Well, back at 'cha, you punk!" He barely finished his sentence when Leo and Mikey jumped and embraced him.

Raphael was thrown totally off guard by the display of emotion and looked around the room to his other roommates with confusion on his face.

"I think they missed you." Eric explained. He laughed a little as the red banded turtle awkwardly returned the hug.

"You didn't really think the Course would be a big deal did ya." Raph chided.

Mikey was nodding emphatically as he finally released his brother.

"We did. We really, really did." He insisted.

"Raph, what about…"

The door slammed open again and Donatello was deposited on the floor not far from where Raph had been dropped, but he didn't get up as quickly. In fact, he was all but yanked to his feet in an emotional display from Mikey and Leo to rival the one Raph received, though Don was much quicker to return the greeting.

"Hey, hey, are you guys gonna let me breathe sometime soon?" He asked quietly.

When his brothers finally released him Donnie made a beeline for his bed. As soon as he was sitting down he dropped his head into his hands and pinched the space between his eyes.

"Donnie, are you ok?" Leo asked. He knew Donnie's tells. He knew all of his brothers' tells, and he knew that they knew his.

Raphael, who had been preoccupied with Mikey, turned and saw what Don was doing.

"Dang, I thought Alejandro took care of that."

"He did, _last_ night." Don answered Raph first before turning to Leo. "I'm ok, just a headache."

"When's the last time you had something to drink?" Leo asked sternly.

Don thought for a moment, and took far too long about it for Leo's liking.

"I honestly don't remember Leo. It was a while ago. Uh, maybe breakfast yesterday?"

Leo didn't like that Donnie didn't remember, Don always remembered everything.

"Some nasty almost orange juice TANG stuff, yeah, it was yesterday at breakfast." Donnie added, and one of Leo's fears was calmed.

"Too long," Leonardo scolded flatly, "you know that, especially if you've been active, which you have been."

"I know, but it's not like there was a whole lot I could do about it."

Leo noticed that Raph, sitting on his own bed, was nodding in agreement, so Leo let it go. Instead he turned to Steve.

"Is there a way we could get some water for him?" Leo asked.

"Not without getting in trouble, and with what they've done already it's probably best to lay low for a while if possible." Steve informed them.

"I'll go!" Mikey volunteered.

Leo shook his head in response to Mikey before he turned his attention to Raphael as Donnie carefully pulled his feet up onto the bed and laid down, shell to the room.

"Tonight, dinner." Raph informed promptly, knowing exactly what Leo was going to ask.

When Leo turned to scold Don again he realized that his brother was already asleep.

"He wasn't there." Raphael informed him. "The other three were, but he wasn't. I don't think the guards were amused that 5 prisoners got through the Course, and I think they blame him for getting through the two main obstacles. It… wasn't easy on him." He added unsurely. Raph was just as tired as Don, but at least he didn't have the dehydration headache.

"What happened?" Leo asked concern in his voice.

Raphael explained the Course to his brothers. He explained Don getting them out of the gas chamber. Nalong and the little warnings he called out to them, he explained the man who fell into the acid. And both Mikey and Leo were cringing when he told about the girl who had grabbed the door in her haste to get out. He continued his story through the previous evening, the morning, Nalong's second cryptic visit and the rejected proposal, and then went on to describe his day re-roofing some of the barracks. Raphael fought to stay awake as the other five waking roommates described their days to the others before going to bed as well. The lights were out and silent hours were in effect when Mikey spoke quietly.

"We really missed you guys."

"We missed you too Mikey." Raph responded sleepily.

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	13. Chapter 12

Nalong - Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The same applies to Splinter, April and Casey, I don't own them either. I also don't get paid for this. I am just borrowing them and their world to play in for a little while and promise to return them when I am done. Please don't sue me.

A/N: I was just informed that this story was nominated for Best Action/Adventure in the 2004 TMNT Fanfiction Competition! Thank You! I wasn't going to post this chapter until after New Year's, but I was so excited that I had to!

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The next morning Leo and Mikey were up early. After hearing of what Don and Raph had been through they had opted to let their brothers sleep longer. Raph may have tried to hide it last night, but both Leo and Mikey knew that he was tired, and until they did something about that headache Donnie wasn't going to be much good to anybody. Every so often during the night Leo had heard him moan slightly in his sleep, some of it was probably the headache, but there were dreams too. Don had cried out more than once during the night, and those cries had been of fear or worry, not pain. Leo couldn't help but wonder what was haunting his brother so.

One of the first items of business in the morning was breakfast, so Don could at least get something to drink then. Leo could feel his blood boil at the fact that the guards had not offered his brother the opportunity to even get a drink during the past 48 hours. They might be turtles, but Leo was fairly certain that something like the rule of threes still applied: Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food, and they would die. He wasn't sure, but he guessed that, as turtles, they could probably go a little longer without air. The flipside was that, since they were amphibious, they probably couldn't go as long without water. Leo didn't like how close his brother was to that limit.

Raphael woke on his own shortly before Leo planned to wake him up, and Mikey went to wake Donnie.

"Hey Donnie!" Mikey called brightly.

"Uh huh?"

"Time to get up bro."

"Uh huh."

"No, seriously, you need to get up, up and at 'em, rise and shine and all that jazz." Mikey tried again, grabbing Don's blanket and throwing it off the reluctant turtle. His voice had its usual chipper tone and way too loud as far as Don was concerned. The purple turtle could feel his teeth vibrating with every word of Mikey's chirpy greeting. He rolled over carefully and looked his brother directly in the eye.

"You don't come with a volume control do you?" He asked quietly, and Mikey looked ashamed for a moment before noticing the laughter in Don's eyes as he continued. "I'll have to fix that when we get out of here." Task completed Mikey laughed at the joke and clapped his brother on the shell. He was a little sorry when Don flinched.

"You couldn't really make a volume control for him could you?" A now awake Annie asked as she pulled on a sock.

"I wish!" Raphael threw in.

"Hey!" Mikey objected, but the room filled with laughter all the same. It was nice to have everyone back, and for that Mikey was thankful. They were still smiling as they headed outside for their work assignments.

Raphael and Leonardo were the first to be removed from the group outside the barracks. Then a guard came along to collect Annie and Donatello, and finally Steve, Eric and Michelangelo were taken to their assignment for the day. Assuming no one got into trouble today, this evening would be spent planning a way out of here.

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Alejandro glared slightly at his flavorless malt-o-meal. He hated the stuff, but that was all they were offered at breakfast, so that was what he ate. Another workgroup entered the mess hall and he spotted two turtles coming from the food line. He called out to get their attention, but when they turned around… Well, the one was Raphael, but the other one. This one had a blue bandana, not the purple he knew Don had been wearing, and Alejandro could swear that the other turtle had been a slightly different color. "Wait, you're not…"

"Hey, Alejandro," Raphael greeted him. "This is my brother Leo, Donnie's in another group today." He explained quickly clearing up the confusion.

Leo bowed slightly and Alejandro extending a hand which Leonardo then shook.

"You have some amazing brothers. Incredibly loyal" Alejandro commented.

"We are lucky to have each other. The way Raph tells it, I have you to thank for assisting Donnie."

"It was nothing. If anyone deserved a little help just then it was him." Alejandro seemed surprised that Raphael had shared that little story.

They continued to chat through their meal. Eventually conversation turned to escape ideas. The turtles wanted to do something big. Their goal: take down the whole complex.

Alejandro was a little skeptical, but he had watched Raph and Don in the course, and Leo looked just as capable as his brothers were. Maybe, just maybe, these four turtles could be the very thing to take down the cult. That Nalong character had called Donatello the source of a river. Maybe that guy wasn't as crazy as he seemed. Alejandro promised to keep an eye out for weaknesses in the complex.

All too soon mealtime was over and the work crews were taken their separate ways. Raphael and Leonardo were led to an empty barrack. The nearest guard thrust a ladder into Leo's hands and a pointed to a pallet of shingles. Raphael groaned at seeing the roofing materials again.

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Michelangelo swung the sledge hammer high and brought it down heavily. The head connected soundly with the fencepost he was driving. As far as Mikey was concerned, if he had to be in this place working, this was the best place he could be. From here he could see Raphael and Leonardo on a roof a short way up the hill. Downhill he could also see a field and every now and then he would see Donatello haul something out and throw it on a cart. Mikey was actually semi-amused by this job, and he felt a song coming on.

"I've been working on this dumb fence" He belted, slightly off-key, to the tune of _I've been working on the railroad_.

"All the live long day!"

"Mikey what do you think you're doing." Eric hissed, trying to silence the turtle before he got in trouble.

"singin'." Mikey responded simply before continuing his song.

"I've been driving all these stupid posts,

Just to pass the time away."

"Shh… They're going to hear you." Eric insisted.

"Can't you hear the guards all shouting

Get back to work you mutant freaks!"

Eric finally gave up and chose to laugh at the turtle's antics instead.

"Can't you hear the guards all shouting

We're gonna work your shell for weeks!"

When the guards got too close for comfort Mikey immediately stopped singing and took another swing at the post. He did however continue to hum quietly. He hummed through the Dinah won't you blow chorus. The guard left as Mikey got to the last line and he sang again.

"Two can play at this work camp game!"

He continued singing into the next verse, which would normally have been in the kitchen with Dinah. He looked carefree and easygoing, but in truth he knew exactly where the nearest guards were at all times.

"Raph is roofing barracks with Leo!

Donnie's down with Annie in the Fields, And

I am on fencing with Eric and Steeee-eeevvveee,

And singing up a storm!"

Another guard got too close and Mikey silenced himself again, completely this time, no humming. He plowed another post home and grinned at Eric who laughed.

Steve liked seeing Eric like this. He had been worried about the young man for a while there. He watched as Mikey took another swing at a new post and missed it completely. The momentum of the hammer pulled the unsuspecting turtle to the ground behind it. Steve laughed quietly as the turtle picked himself up, brushed off quickly and proceeded to pretend that the little incident never happened.

The guards were still too close when Mikey continued singing, but he was quiet this time; only the nearest prisoners heard the next chorus.

"I'm singing Fee-Fie-fiddle-e-i-o

We're gonna get out of here I know-o

Eric snorted at Mikey's little dance and realized that Mikey honestly believed what he said. Everything was different now that these turtles had come into their lives, and Eric was glad of that. Having witnessed the return of the Raph and Don from the Course Eric, for the first time, believed Mikey's words as well. He laughed at the turtle's little song and dance. He hadn't felt this good in a very long time.

Fee-fie-fiddle-e-i-ooooooooooooooooo"

Mikey took a deep breath in preparation for the last line and shouted it out for all to hear.

"STRUMMING ON THE OLD BANJO!"

-ZAP-

Mikey felt a sharp pain in his side and he fell to his knees. Looking around from his spot on the ground he saw a guard standing over him, and that guard was glaring.

"Back to work you mutant freak." There was no trace of humor in the man's voice, but Mikey was fighting not to laugh, lest the shock stick's current be increased. He stood as quickly as he could and picked up his sledge hammer again. The fun was over for now, and Mikey sighed as he drove home another fence post.

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"_Strumming on the old banjo!" _The words rang throughout the camp.

Donatello looked up the hill as he heard the familiar voice. Looking up the hill he could just barely see Michelangelo getting up off the ground. He held his breath hoping that Mikey wouldn't be in too much trouble over that rather loud song. If Don could hear that line clear down here he could only imagine how loud it was up there. He released the breath as the guard moved.

A sharp crackle drew Don's attention back to the field where he was supposed to be working. Behind him stood a guard who looked none too happy with the little, unauthorized break MT 824 had been taking. Even as the shock stick started powering up Don hurried back into the field to gather up another basket.

He felt infinitely better than he had this morning. At breakfast he had finally gotten something to drink and that had done the trick, mostly, the water barrel at the field had also been visited several times by the turtle. He slipped through the fields and wondered how long he could stay out there before someone noticed that he was missing. The thought was quickly dismissed since he had been in enough trouble already this week. He'd keep an eye out for anything he came across, but opted to do as he was told for the time being. He gathered up another basket and walked back out to the cart.

Donatello knew that he had to be toward the edge of the complex, and looking up the hill he realized that, from the outside, this place probably looked like a normal farm. He imagined that the other corners of the complex were similar and that anything that might suggest otherwise was carefully hidden away in the center, far away from prying eyes. All he knew about the location of this awful place was that it was very far away from the city he called home. Throwing the basket up onto the cart his thoughts turned to Master Splinter, April and Casey. He wondered what they were doing now. Then as suddenly as every previous appearance Nalong was in front of him.

"Wha… huh? Oh, you again." Don picked up another basket and started to haul it out of the corn field.

"Donatello, there is something you must know."

"I don't have time right now Nalong. I'm being watched like a hawk today and I don't want to get in anymore trouble."

Nalong stopped at the edge of the field while Donnie went out and threw the basket on the cart. He kept walking right past Nalong who waited and caught him again as soon as he reentered the field.

"Seriously, I can't talk now." Donatello said.

"You have to know this, one of your roommates it not who they appear to be!"

This got Donatello's attention. He froze in the middle of picking up a basket.

"You'd better not be lying to me." Don threatened mildly. Their roommates were people they trusted. Don finished picking up the basket and started walking again.

"I am not."

"Who?" The question was simple and quiet, and Don expected an answer.

"Steve is one of the guards." Nalong insisted.

He was still skeptical. His brothers trusted Steve, and though Donnie didn't know the guy very well, he did trust his brothers. Donatello sighed and walked out of the field again. Nalong was still there when he got back.

"I really felt that you should know this. Steve was one of the designers of the Course. He is not to be trusted Donatello." Nalong insisted.

"How do you know this Nalong?" Don asked carefully. He didn't want to believe that Steve was one of the guards, however Nalong hadn't steered him wrong before. He sighed and knew he should at least listen to the story.

When I first arrived here 5 years ago Steve was designing the Course. He was one of the most powerful individuals in the cult. I was a prisoner at that time. I attempted to escape and the fight that resulted ended with me being part of the very first Course run in this complex."

"But I thought few had ever survived the Course." Donatello was thoroughly confused now.

"Until you and your brother, none have emerged from the course unscathed. Those who are not killed go crazy in the following days from being in the gas chamber too long. You spared the whole group that fate with your quick action."

"But then…"

"I did not survive the Course. I fell from the slicked walkway into the pool below." Nalong shuddered at the memory. Don just stared disbelievingly at the water dragon.

A noise from nearby guards reminded Don that he was supposed to be working. Quickly he grabbed up another basket and hurried out to the cart. When he got back to the field Nalong was still there.

"If you didn't survive then…"

"I am a spirit." Nalong explained. "I have been assisting those sent to the Course since I began this existence. I have also taken it upon myself to destroy this complex; however, I have no desire to harm the prisoners. I believe that you may be the key that allows this to happen."

"Why me?"

"You and your brothers might be the only ones who can." Nalong insisted.

Don watched in shock as Nalong again started at something that Don couldn't hear and couldn't see. A quick bow and the lizard had disappeared again.

Don continued to haul the baskets around for the remainder of the day, but his mind was elsewhere. He knew he would have to confront Steve, and he was not looking forward to it."

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Casey kicked the right front tire of the Battle Shell. "You stupid piece of…"

"Casey, knock it off." April interrupted as she pulled the spare tire from the back of the rig. She rolled it out onto the ground. It was full and in good condition. "Here, make yourself useful." She added, rolling the tire over to Casey where the jack and tire iron already waited. Casey grouched a little, but got the Battle Shell up on the jack. Between the two of them the tire was quickly changed and they were back on the road.

Since it was daylight, they were on a fairly busy highway and the two outside didn't really need him Splinter took the opportunity to meditate. It had been a while since he had last had the opportunity. He tried searching for his sons again, and though he could not find the turtles, he felt sure that he and his companions were headed in the right direction. Everything about what they were doing felt right, and that was enough for him.

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A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this. I'll see you after the New Year!


	14. Chapter 13

Nalong - Chapter 13

Disclaimer: The TMNT and associated characters are owned by people who are not me. I see no forthcoming change in that department. I don't get paid for this and I don't see that changing either. Only the OCs and the plot itself are mine.

A/N: Ok, I was working late on final editing of this chapter after not having eaten since breakfast because I got on a plane and when I got home, found that my car had come unplugged in the -35 F freezing cold and therefore wouldn't start. That didn't stop me from clearing the foot of snow and ice off of it though. I still haven't thawed out completely, and furthermore, there's no real food in my house! So any errors I choose to blame on that. Anyway I was working on this and got distracted by the Aurora dancing outside my window, but here it is. Thank you all for your incredible patience with me.

AND a huge Thank You to everyone who voted in the 2004 TMNT Fanfiction Competition. Especially to those of you out there who voted this story as Best Action/Adventure! It won! Wow. I'm still excited about that, although I only found out a couple of days ago. (grins sheepishly) You are all Awesome! And a great big congrats to all the other winners and nominees out there! And Thanks to Ziptango for setting that up. And especially, Thank you to all who reviewed

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Donatello and Annie were the first to return that evening. Donnie had been hauling all day while Annie had been harvesting. She knew that the job he had been given was tough, she couldn't even lift one of those baskets without a little 'help', and few in her usual work group could. She had been worried for a while this morning, but later in the day Don had seemed to get a second wind and looked ok, but he had been silent for most of the day. She didn't know him very well, but even she could recognize that something was wrong. When he came in the door the first thing he had done was go to his bed and curl up with his shell to the room. Hearing him sigh yet again Annie looked over her book.

"Don? What's wrong?" She asked gently.

The turtle sighed in response but did not answer right away. He rolled over carefully and looked at Annie. She was a little surprised by the intensity of his gaze. It was as though he was looking for something, evidently he found it because he continued.

"Annie, I heard something disturbing about Steve today." Donnie was speaking very carefully as though he was afraid that his words would cause her to break. The reaction he got was not one he had been expecting. Annie nodded; she seemed to know exactly what Don was talking about.

"You heard that he used to be a guard." It wasn't a question. Don's jaw nearly dropped through the floor. He finally regained control of his shock and spoke again.

"I heard that he was still a guard." He wondered how Annie could be so sure of the 'used to be'. All the same Don had felt his trust for the man evaporate like liquid nitrogen released from its container, and it left him just as cold. That had been this afternoon, but he still hadn't thawed out completely.

"There's no way." Annie insisted. "He's not a member of the cult anymore. I know he's not."

Don sighed and nodded. He really wanted to believe Annie, she was probably right, but he still wanted the story.

"You don't believe me do you?" Annie was a little shocked at Don's attitude. "You just want to think the worst of him. He's changed! He's not like that anymore!"

"No Annie, that's not it. I'm new here, remember? I want to believe you, really I do! I-- I… I don't know, I guess I'm just confused. It came as a bit of a shock today when I heard that."

"Don't you believe that people can change?" Annie asked.

"Of course people can change!" Don insisted hurriedly. Though he had yet to meet a foot soldier who had turned on the Shredder and decided that he would really rather help the turtles. Evidently he had 'but' face because Annie called him on it.

"You just don't think that something as evil as one of these cult members can."

Don realized that he was caught. He really wanted to believe her, he did, but it was a lot to swallow.

"Annie, I'll promise this. I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now. I will listen to his story, but I want to hear it from him, and I want my brothers to hear it too. For now I will believe you, but I reserve the right to change my mind."

It was Annie's turn to intensely study Don's features. He didn't pass the inspection with flying colors, but she did eventually nod and accept his terms. The silence was just getting awkward when Raph and Leo walked in.

Raph and Leo knew that they had just walked in on something and Don flinched at the looks on their faces. The renewed silence was even more awkward and it stretched for what seemed like miles before Raph broke it.

"Uh, Leo do you get the feeling that we stepped in something weird?"

Leo nodded as he glanced between Don and Annie who were still sitting opposite each other.

"So, uh, what's going on?" Leo asked, he wasn't sure if he expected an answer or not.

Annie sighed in exasperation and looked pointedly at Donatello. In that look Don could knew exactly what she was saying. _It's your suspicion, and besides they're your brothers._ It was Don's turn to sigh now, though his was more one of resignation. As he turned toward Raphael and Leonardo, Annie lay down on her bed with her back to the room and started reading again. At least that is what she wanted them to think. Donnie was just about to tell them what he had heard when Mikey, Eric, and Steve walked in. He couldn't help the accusing look he fired at Steve when the man entered, but he quickly remembered his promise and softened his expression. Steve's flinch told him that he had been too slow, and Don Immediately felt sorry for his actions. The book that hurtled across the room to collide with his plastron and the glare he received from Annie told him that he had already gone too far, and he hadn't even said anything!

Between Annie's glare and the confused looks he was receiving from everyone else Donatello could feel all eyes in the room boring into him like drills after oil. He sighed, it was now or never. Everyone was together now and he had to explain what he had heard. He started his tale. Uncomfortable under the gaze of all these people some of the story was a little tough to get through. At one point he noticed Raph's fists clenching and was afraid that he would go after Steve but Leo, who also noticed, gave the hotheaded turtle a warning glance that strongly suggested that Raph at least wait until Don finished. No one interrupted until he finished explaining the day's events right up to the verbal confrontation with Annie and subsequent arrival of everyone else.

Steve hung his head through most of Donatello's explanation and Eric was looking uncomfortable. Annie was glaring at Don throughout and the looks from his brothers ranged from shocked to angry to confused at given parts of the tale. By the time he was done Annie looked like she was incensed and about to pull a Raph on Donnie.

"Annie, no. It's ok." Steve said quietly, diffusing the situation. Annie visibly deflated.

"But…"

"Annie, he wasn't here. He was not witness to the events that led me to this point in my life like you were. He is right to have some suspicions."

"Huh?" Mikey was so thoroughly confused by the whole thing that the one word question was all he could come up with at the moment. _He's not a cult member. There's no way!_ _What events?_

Mikey's question pretty much summed everything up, and his brothers were relieved that he had put out the question that was plaguing them as well. No one really knew what to ask. Lucky for them, Steve knew what to say. He started from the beginning.

"About 10 years ago I became involved with this cult. I started as a guard when they were first constructing this camp and bringing in prisoners, and I quickly rose through the ranks. Along the way I was one of the people who came up with and designed the Course." Steve looked absolutely ashamed, and Don was beginning to believe, without doubt, that Annie was right. After a pause Steve continued.

"Eventually, I became a Protector. They are the ones who bring in mutants. Well trained in the use of those dart guns and several fighting techniques, the Protectors are a zealous lot and are very committed to their cause. A cause that I admit I once believed whole-heartedly."

Leo's restraint of Raphael was now getting a little more physical. He had a hand on his brother's arm and the looks telling Raph to chill were getting more insistent.

"I was put in charge of a group on a mission to bring in a family believed to be telekinetic. They had kids. Never once during the whole confrontation with this family did they use any sort of telekinesis, and it was at that point that I began to have doubts about what I was involved in. I requested a transfer back to Guard and it was granted as long as I continued to create additions to the Course. This was about 5 years ago now."

Raphael had calmed down considerably and Leo had released him. Mikey was still standing in shock at the whole development, and Don still sat on the bed listening carefully to the story. Annie's expression softened and Eric was still looking at the floor.

"Two years later Annie and Eric showed up, and my belief in the values of this cult had continued to dwindle during that time. There is a lot of despair in this place and Eric is very sensitive to emotions that surround him. Annie has telekinetic potential and also some telepathic ability. She was able to keep Eric grounded on some of the worst days. One day I was on duty and he was having trouble keeping up. He should have been taken to the sick ward, but that was not what the head guard had in mind. He pulled out his shock stick and went after Eric with it. I snapped and pulled my own on my superior."

Now, all four turtles gazed slack jawed at the man before them and began to truly understand the pain that was always present in his eyes, even when he laughed it was always there, and it would probably always be there.

"Shortly, I was thrown into a barracks with these two. I remember the exact words of the former friend who slammed the door. 'If you love them so much then you belong with them. You are filth, just like them. I cannot stand the sight of you, traitor!' He spat on the floor in front of me and left." Concluding his story Steve hung his head and looked to the floor as he waited for the jury's decision.

"This may actually be to our advantage." Leo said quietly. Every pair of eyes in the room snapped to him.

"How so Leo?" Donatello asked absently.

Leo eyed his brother suspiciously. Don was usually a pretty quick on the uptake, taking a closer look he realized that Donnie was physically present, but his mind was elsewhere. He answered anyway.

"If Steve was once one of the guards, then he knows the layout of the camp. He knows how the system operates, probably as well as most of the current guards, and may even be aware of some weaknesses that we could exploit."

Raph had figured out where Leo was going and had been nodding in agreement through the explanation. Mikey had taken a little longer, but now also agreed that the idea was sound. Don was nodding absently, he was still elsewhere.

"What are you talking about?" Eric asked. Hope was surging from three of the turtles, but the fourth felt lost somehow. He would have to mention that to someone, probably Leo, later.

"Steve's knowledge of the camp might just be the very thing that tips the scales in our favor," Raphael informed.

"Our chances of getting everyone out of here just got a whole lot better," added Leo. He couldn't help but notice Don's flinch at the statement, and had to wonder why his brother was behaving so oddly.

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They were not making good time. Casey desperately wanted to kick the speed up a few miles per hour, but every time he tried he wound up getting in trouble. He hadn't forgotten Splinter's words from earlier in the trip, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they were going to be too late.

Splinter didn't seem overly concerned and Casey felt anger at that too. He was their father for crying out loud. You'd think the guy would at least care a little about what happened to them. Maybe that wasn't fair, but Casey couldn't help it. April was getting to be the same way and he was getting mad at her too. She kept insisting that Splinter knew what he was doing, and she also insisted that Casey slow down. All the loyalty the guys showed these two people and this was the thanks they get? When the turtles needed them the most April and Splinter were leaving them helpless! Splinter was asleep in the back and April was almost there too so Casey pressed a little harder on the accelerator.

"Mr. Jones, you are going too fast."

Casey almost audibly growled at the rat. There was no way he could have noticed. He was supposed to be asleep! How had he known that Casey had sped up?

"Mr. Jones?"

Casey sighed and let off the gas a little allowing the Battle Shell to reduce to a more 'appropriate' cruising speed.

"If we get stopped, we'll be no good to them." April added, having woken up at Splinter's admonishment of Casey's driving. "Seriously, we can't risk getting pulled over."

"I know, I know. I've heard it before, but I don't have to like it."

"But you do have to drive slower." April finished.

An irritated sigh escaped Casey as the Battle Shell pierced the nighttime air, cruising precisely at the 55 mph speed limit.


	15. Chapter 14

Nalong - Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or any associated characters, places or things from any of their many incarnations. I only borrowed them to write this little piece of fiction. I do not get paid for this and I promise to return them when I am done. Please don't sue me.

A/N: I am pleased to announce that the rough draft of this story is complete, and it weighs in at 18 chapters. I'll be posting as I finish editing. There are only 4 left. I got lots of questions about what's up with Donnie, I guess you'll just have to read and find out! hehe. As usual A HUGE THANK YOU to all you wonderful reviewers out there!

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Mikey was sitting on the floor chatting with Eric and Annie, and Leo was half-listening to the strategy conversation Raph was having with Steve, but the other half of his concentration was on the turtle curled up on his bed with his shell to the room. Eric had informed him of Don's lost feeling, but even without that information Leonardo would have known that something was up. Raphael and Steve didn't even seem to notice when he stood and left their conversation entirely.

"Hey Donnie," Leo called quietly, checking to see if his brother was awake.

Donatello sighed and turned over to face Leo.

"Are you ok?" Leo asked.

The purple clad turtle shrugged slightly and sat up. Sitting cross-legged on the bed he offered the empty space to his brother. "That wasn't really a question was it?" Don replied, already knowing the answer.

Leonardo shook his head. "There's been something up with you since you got back from the Course, and I want to know what it is." He could almost see the wheels turning in Donnie's head as the turtle tried to figure out how to best explain what was wrong. Leo knew that this was one of Don's quirks, almost everything he said had been thought out first. It was very different from dealing with Raphael who spoke first then thought later. Both required patience, it was just a different kind of patience.

"How do you do it, Leo?" Donnie finally asked. At the confused look on the blue turtle's face he continued. "How do you take responsibility for us day in and day out? How do… how you do forgive yourself when someone you're trying to protect gets hurt?" There was a long pause, and almost too quietly for Leo to hear "How do I forgive myself for letting them die?"

Leonardo had almost missed the last statement, it was so quiet. So that was why Don had been so out of it. That was why he had flinched at the prospect of getting everyone out. That was what haunted his dreams.

Shocked, Leo physically pulled Donatello around so that they were facing each other and made sure that he had eye contact. "You didn't 'let' them die, Donnie." Almost immediately he regretted use of that particular nickname. It sounded a little condescending, but it was too late now.

"Didn't I?" Don glared at Leo. "Maybe if I hadn't leapt over the group on the balance beam no one would have fallen. If I had waited by the door instead of coming back to the center of the room levitation lady wouldn't have been electrocuted." He shuddered at the memory of forcing the woman away from the door.

"You can't possibly blame yourself for that Don. There was nothing more you could have done. Remind me, why did you leap over the group on the balance beam?"

"Because the guy in back was falling," Don admitted quietly.

"And why did you come back to the center of the room?"

"To wait for the others and try to figure out what the hidden danger about the door was."

"In those actions, and the reasoning behind them, do you see anything that you honestly wouldn't do again if put in the same situation?"

For a long time Leo got no response, but Donatello eventually shook his head.

"You heard what Steve said. No one has ever come out of the Course unscathed. Your actions, yours and Raphael's, brought 5 people out alive. The odds were stacked so high against you that what you accomplished is a miracle. You have to know that Donnie." Leo was ticked at himself for using that name, _again_, but Don didn't seem to notice or care.

"Deep down, I do. It just doesn't make me fell any better about it."

"Well, how about this. You and I go over and talk strategy with Steve. We're going to need you on this one. Don't let the ones you couldn't save get you down. Just keep trying to help the ones you can."

Don gave Leo a small smile. "Thanks, Splinter Jr."

Leonardo hated that nickname, usually. But somehow, when Don used it, it didn't sound insulting. In fact, Donnie had taken the derogatory little nickname and turned it into a compliment.

Donatello let Leo pull him to his feet, and the pair joined the strategy session Raph and Steve were already engrossed in. Soon Mikey, Eric, and Annie were all in on it too.

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The next morning the turtles were up early and, again, Leo had them doing katas. Today they were all working the same one as a group.

"Donatello!" Leo hissed quietly, so as not to disturb their roommates, when he noticed his brother two whole movements behind.

Don's attention snapped back to the present and he nearly lost his balance. He pulled his focus back to the kata and caught up one movement by the time his brothers were done. Don's inattention caused Leo to have them do the kata again, and Raph and Mikey glared at Donnie. This time he managed to keep his mind on the task at hand, but it was difficult. His focus was elsewhere this morning, or maybe everywhere was a better word. Some of his attention was on the conversation with Leo last night, some was on the girl in the Course, some was on what Splinter, April and Casey were doing, and a very large part was on what he had to do tomorrow for this little plan to work. He wasn't looking forward to that, but of the seven of them he was the only one who stood a chance, slim as it was, of actually pulling it off.

Two days. They would have two days and one shot at this, because if they failed this time Donatello was sure that they would not live to get another chance at it. Today word was to be spread among the prisoners. Details would be left out, and with luck the trail would get too long for the guards to trace before they even found out about it.

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Donatello and Annie were in the same work group again. Raphael was with Steve, and Michelangelo and Leonardo were with Eric. That morning at breakfast Raphael spotted Alejandro at the breakfast table, and as he got closer he was surprised to see Ben there as well. Raphael pulled Mikey and Steve over to where the two men sat.

"Hey guys," Raphael started as he set his tray down on the table, "we've got news and a plan, and we're going to need a little help. You up for it?"

"Are you kidding? You really think we'd turn you down?" Ben enthused, obviously excited over the idea. The short man seemed to be rubbing his hands together at the prospect of escaping. "I get the feeling that, with you guys running the show, it's going to be something big."

"You better believe it." Raphael confided.

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Across the room Eric had found a few acquaintances and he drug Leonardo over to the table and made some short introductions. But this wasn't purely a social call; there was business to be attended to here. Rumor of the turtle creatures that had led three others safely through the Course had spread quickly, and while Leonardo wasn't actually one of those two turtles these guys didn't know that, nor did they need to.

"This one is going to be big," Eric informed the men at the table, "bigger than anything ever before attempted."

"Why should we believe you?" The largest of the men asked. "What makes this attempt any different from all the others in the past?"

"Hey, have I ever led you guys wrong before?" Eric asked with an 'innocence' in his voice that would not have been out of place coming from a stereotypical used car salesman.

The big burly guy, who also happened to have eyes in the back of his head, literally, studied Eric's face for a moment before speaking. "Is this one of them turtle guys?"

"One of them, yes." Eric answered the question that was spoken, but not the one that was implied. What this guy wanted to know was if Leo was one of the turtles that had led people through the course, but as long as Leo kept his mouth shut about that little detail they might just be able to pull this one off.

"Good show, turtle-boy." The man jumped off his stool and clapped Leonardo hard on the shell. "That took guts, kid."

Leo was just glad it wasn't Raph who was here right now. He kept his mouth shut. He wouldn't lie if he was asked, but if this guy was going to make assumptions that led to his assistance in this little prison break then Leonardo wasn't going to stop him either.

"So are you in?" Eric asked.

"Anything you need, kiddo." The man said brightly to Eric.

"Great, my green friend here and his family will be taking care of the details, but we need word spread, and we need it spread fast. Our window is sometime tomorrow." Eric and Leonardo got up to leave.

"Uh, how do we know when it's going to go down?"

"Trust me, you'll know." Leo informed the men. He glanced down the table and noticed two strange mutants. They were human-animal crosses like him and his brothers, but these two looked like a rhino and a warthog. They seemed oddly familiar, but he was sure that he didn't know them.

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Two buildings over, Don and Annie had found Iris. Breakfast was as good a time as any. It was time to fire up the rumor mill, a machine capable of passing information faster than any device that even Donatello could dream up. And this rumor had three points of origin.

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	16. Chapter 15: Enter the Main Complex

Nalong - Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own no adolescent, transformed, martial arts trained terrapins, nor their rodent-esque sensei. Casey and April aren't mine either. Neither is the Battle Shell. Did I miss anything? If I did, then I don't own it either. The plot is mine. The OCs are mine, and if you want to borrow them just ask. I make no money from this. Please don't sue me.

YAY! Just about everybody caught the Bebop and Rocksteady cameo! I figured that the older readers would, so congrats to all the younger readers who know their TMNT history! hehe. Also the first season of the old series is out on DVD for anyone who is interested, and that disk has the origin of the two "lovable oafs". (Thanks, Midnight Heir) Currently, this is all there is, but I might find a way to slip them in again. I'll work on it. And a HUGE THANK YOU to all you wonderful reviewers out there!

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Word passed through the camp quickly. By the next morning almost everyone was aware that an opportunity for escape was coming. It was a shame that the guards had found out too, but it was also to be expected. There was no way the information could pass through that many mouths without the guards picking up on something. What started as a rumor of the opportunity for escape had turned into a hugely complicated plan as it passed through the rumor mill. Luckily, the rumored plan was nothing like what was going to happen. While the guards took the necessary prevention steps to deal with the plan they heard they didn't realize how much they were hurting themselves.

Donatello had to laugh at all of this. He knew a little about chaos theory. Physicists have known for years that if you prevent all the little errors, prevent all the small 'corrections' in a system, then the only 'corrections' left are the big ones. Prevention strategy is a funny thing. He'd heard stories of businesses giving hour-long training sessions to lab researchers on why walking up or down stairs with a pencil is dangerous and therefore against company policy. These were the self-same researchers working with liquid nitrogen, explosive chemicals, heavy equipment and delicate machinery. When prevention strategy does its job everything becomes a big deal. The danger associated with a pencil is made equal to that of mixing pure sodium and water. Those stories always ended in disaster, disaster that could have been best prevented by allowing pencils on the stairway. This cult had just banned the pencils.

_You go right ahead, guys,_ he thought, _prevent the little things so the big one can come along and bite you in the shell!_

He had been moved from throwing baskets around fields yesterday to throwing bags around a barn today. All day long he did exactly as he was told, not making trouble, not even speaking out of turn. Donatello did exactly what was expected of him without complaint. Physically he was throwing the bags, but mentally he was several hours ahead of himself.

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Raphael and Steve were the first to return from their chores and they waited patiently for everyone else's arrival. When Annie and Donatello got back Steve mentally walked the two present turtles through the evening again. He himself could never slip into that complex, even with the turtles help, so they would have to do this one on their own. The man's insistence on staying here made Donatello a little nervous, but he had relented in the end and agreed to let Steve stay behind. Mikey and Leo finally arrived and the group received a final walk through. Raphael was anxious to get underway, but Don insisted on double and triple checking everything for what seemed to be the thousandth time, and Raph had had enough.

"Come on Don. Let's go. You know everything that can go wrong. You've been walked through this a hundred times!"

Donnie looked over to his other two brothers.

"You'll be fine Don. You can do this." Leo told him.

"Yeah, and you've got me to help you out, so I don't know what you're all worried about!" Mikey added self-deprecatingly with his characteristic smile.

Don had to laugh at Mikey. He trusted all of his brothers, but if they had to be in pairs he was always most comfortable with Michelangelo. Raph and Leo were occasionally bothered by Mikey's tendency to 'freak out' in the face of danger, but the guy always seemed to rise to the challenge, and that was something Donatello had learned to trust and count on long ago. "I know. It's just…never mind. Let's go." Don hesitantly gave in and they started out the door.

Together, under the cover of darkness they slipped out the door and headed toward the main complex at the center of the camp. There was a pretty substantial standard lock on the outer door, and that was Raphael's territory. He had procured several small metal strips over the course of his work at the camp and two of the smallest ones sufficed for a lock pick. Soon the four were once again on their way. They kept to the shadows and moved silently through the building. If any of them were spotted this evening, then all was lost. This was strictly a get-in-do-damage-get-out-and-back-to-their-barracks-before-anyone-noticed mission.

A short way down the hall they heard someone coming. They separated and found hiding places, Leonardo and Raphael were side by side in a ventilation duct, and Michelangelo and Donatello slipped into a cleaning supply closet. They were lucky that it wasn't the janitor who had been coming down the hall. Don nudged Mikey and pointed to a vent shaft access point. The pair rejoined their brothers in the building's vent system. They'd be splitting up again shortly, but first they had to make it down this hall.

For the most part they should be ok in the vents, but according to Steve there was a laser grid in the system at the inner door, so they would have to break through that door before returning to the vents. If the first door had been Raphael's specialty, this one was Donatello's. This lock was released by a key card, which they didn't have, and a thumbprint, which they couldn't get. Don was going to have to break it, and he had nothing to work with. Well, almost nothing. Raphael fished a larger piece of metal out of his belt and handed it to his brother. He didn't have much time, but with a little luck the system hadn't changed since Steve had been a part of this cult, and Don had been told how to break the old system. Raph and Leo kept watch a short way down the hall and Mikey was looking over Don's shoulder, as if he could help somehow.

Mikey couldn't help but notice Don's all-business mentality. It was the one that surfaced when the turtle was nervous, scared, or angry; emotion was tucked away until a more appropriate time. They could all do it, but didn't usually need to. Mikey knew that something was bothering his brother. He had also noticed that whatever was bugging Don had Leo worried as well. Maybe worried wasn't quite the right word, but it was quite obvious that Leonardo was keeping an extra close eye on Donatello.

The digital readout on the display panel switched to a green 'ACCESS GRANTED' and the turtles slipped through the door. Michelangelo found and opened the nearest vent cover. He let his brothers enter first and closed it behind them. Leo and Raph went one way and headed for the main weapons room while Don and Mikey headed to the center of the complex and the main computer.

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A single set of headlights shattered the darkness as a vehicle roared past the empty countryside. No one else was around to see the green rig that had once been a standard armored truck. The Aurora Borealis dancing in the northern sky went entirely unnoticed by the rig's passengers.

"Montana Welcomes You." April read as she drove past the sign. "Now we're searching for a needle in a haystack instead of a needle in a field of haystacks." She muttered the last part. They hadn't found any new information since they left New York, and April was getting frustrated.

"Take heart, Miss, O'Neil." Splinter consoled. "They are still alright, and now that we are nearer we stand a better chance of finding them. Perhaps we should first try the address we received from the distributor." He suggested.

"Montana's a pretty big state," Casey interjected from the back, "place may not be easy to find."

"We will drive for a few more hours, and then find a place to get a good night's sleep. Early tomorrow morning we will complete the drive out to the town and find the address. From there we will see what happens."

Splinter gazed out the window and saw the red light dancing in the northern sky. Nature almost seemed to be mocking the pain in his heart. _It's Montana, this happens here. _He could only hope that the Aurora was not an omen of things to come.

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A/N: That pencil down the stairs story is true. It actually did happen, and the pure sodium and water thing, if you don't know what that does, I recommend you don't try it, and just trust me instead. The information about chaos theory is also true, and the kind of thing that gets chaos theorists thrown out of prevention strategy meetings. Oddly, they also get proven correct in the long run. It is really a fascinating subject.

Sorry, it was so short, but this just seemed to be the best place to end it. hehe. At first it was combined with the next chapter, but it just got too long.


	17. Chapter 16: Weapons and Extremists

Nalong - Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT or associated people, places or things. I only own the OCs and the plot. I make no money from this, so please don't sue me.

A/N: PG-13 remember. The original scene I had here I decided was a little too much for PG-13, and it has since been toned down, and I think it's ok PG-13 now. Heaps of THANKS to my wonderful reviewers.**  
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Leonardo and Raphael didn't hear anyone moving around the corner they approached, so their best guess told them that it was safe. They peeked around, and when they were sure of their solitude they made their move. Sticking to the shadows they slipped down the hallway to the next door. This one, like the door outside the building, was locked with a standard key lock which Raphael worked through in moments. On the other side of the door were four guards. The two turtles couldn't just stroll into the room, but they had already gotten through the lock and opened the door. No one was supposed to be there today. On the other hand their information was several years old so things must have changed. The guards noticed the door cracked open, but eventually turned away from it back toward the screens at the opposite end of the room.

Leonardo noticed the change and rushed through the open door. Raphael, operating on the same wavelength, charged in with him. The guards were close enough together that if they moved quickly and did this right…

Raphael took the two on the right and Leonardo the two on the left. The two turtles silently slipped up behind the guards and, while they were still facing away, knocked heads together. All four guards dropped immediately to the ground, unconscious. Raph looked over at his brother and smiled, he knew better than to speak for fear that someone would hear him. It didn't matter if the cult knew that someone had been inside this area as long as they didn't know who it was, and as long as Don and Mikey went undetected.

The two turtles wound their way through the room and worked their way out to the next hall where they re-entered the ventilation system. From there they headed toward the center of the building. Leo spotted the weapons room on the third floor. Coming through the vents, the room didn't seem to be guarded in any way shape or form. Raphael entered first. He dropped to the floor into the weapons room, and Leo followed shortly. Dozens of weapons lined the walls and the room was bathed in an eerie blue light. Raph made his way to the nearest wall and picked up one of the shock sticks. He quickly opened the compartment up and used a strip of metal to slice several wires inside the device. He closed it up and started in on the next one. Leo did the same to the next wall. They eventually got the process down to a few seconds per shock stick. When those two walls were complete they moved to the guns on the next wall.

These were more difficult. Raph and Leo were a little unsure as to how to disable these weapons. They didn't want them to be obviously damaged, but they had to do something. Finally they figured out how to quickly break off the hammer. It was kind of an obvious break, but the cult would have to be looking for the damage to find it.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard in the hall. They froze. Listening, they heard the lock disengage. The two turtles jumped into the air duct and hid there waiting to see what these guards did before they made their next move.

Two guards entered the room and each picked up a gun before leaving. Leonardo breathed a sigh of relief. If they had picked up weapons that had already been tampered with, then the whole plan could have been ruined. They needed to get through the night without any weapons being discharged.

As soon as the guards left Raph and Leo jumped back down into the room and continued their work. As soon as all the weapons were disabled they slipped out of the room the same way they came in and headed back to their meeting point to wait for Mikey and Donnie.

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Donatello and Michelangelo slipped silently through the halls of the central complex. They were headed right toward the center of the building. A door down the hall opened and three guards came out into the hallway leaving Mikey and Don with no choice but to enter the nearest room. It was imperative that they not get caught in any way, shape or form, because if they were seen in this area then it was likely that the locks would be checked and reset before tomorrow morning, and the chance for escape would be lost.

Luckily for the two turtles, no one was in the room they entered. The room, however, was a little on the creepy side. A red light was focused on a podium at the front of the room. A large basket sat near the podium and a sickly sweet stench permeated the air. This place seemed out of context with the rest of the complex. It lacked the sterile, slightly futuristic, though surprisingly government surplus feeling of the rest of the building and the ceiling had large wooden rafters.

"I don't _even_ want to know what's in that thing." Mikey said.

"Right there with you. Let's get out of here, I think they're gone."

Just as Donatello started to open the door another door down the hall opened and a group of 6 came out into the corridor. He quickly yanked the door shut again and pulled Mikey a short way back. The knob started to turn. Michelangelo grabbed his brother's hand and pulled him. Don had been acting weird all night, and now he seemed almost paralyzed.

"Come on bro, we gotta move now!" he whispered.

That snapped Donnie back to where he was needed and they jumped to the rafters. Mikey looked around for the ventilation ducts they had traveled through earlier and didn't see them in this strange room.

"We're gonna have to wait this one out aren't we?" Mikey asked just loud enough for Donnie to hear.

Don just nodded as he watched the goings on below them.

"Seventeen less five, we started with twelve." A man had taken a position behind the podium and the others each knelt on the floor in a semi-circle before it. "This is the last. She was the last to go. Her demise was another victory in the fight to bring an end to these crimes against nature. We grieve the loss of the five who escaped our grasp only moments after this victory."

Donatello realized exactly what the man was talking about. 17 prisoners had been taken to the Course that day, and 5 had come out alive. The last one to die, if it was moments before they escaped, would have been… the levitation girl. Unconsciously he tensed. Sadness, guilt, and most prominently, anger painted his emotions. He knew he would have to regain control of those emotions quickly, before he did something stupid, but he was having a hard time of it.

Mikey felt his brother tense beside him. He didn't quite know what was going in here, but he was fairly sure that he didn't like it, and he was rapidly becoming certain that Donnie knew exactly what was going on. Right now his brother in purple was reminding him of Raphael. He'd have to find out more about this later, but now he had to get Don to calm down. He put a hand on Donnie's shoulder causing the other turtle to whip around. Finding only Mikey there he visibly deflated. Michelangelo couldn't help but notice the look on Don's face. His brother was angry beyond belief, but he also looked broken somehow, like this place was getting the better of him. Mikey forced Donnie to watch him rather than the scene below that so obviously upset his purple clad brother.

"She is fuel, fuel to the fire that shall bring us victory in this war!"

Mikey forced himself not to look, and he held Donnie tighter when the other turtle offered resistance to staying put. Several sounds occurred in sequence, hinges creaked, silence, more creaking and a loud bang. Finally, the cult members filed out of the room and left the two stunned turtles in the rafters.

Donatello jumped down from the rafters and walked up to the basket. He bowed, and as Mikey jumped down to the floor he heard Don's quiet promise.

"I won't fail you again. This ends here."

With that Donatello headed back to the center of the room and grabbed Michelangelo by the hand, physically dragging him from the room. Mikey had seen this look before, it was Donnie's 'no matter what it takes' look. This was ending here and now.

Together they slipped out of the accursed room and continued down the hall in silence. Finding the room they sought without too much trouble Donatello proceeded to unlock the door. This time the only lock was a keypad, simple by comparison to what he had broken earlier. Mikey entered first. The space wasn't that impressive, it was bare save for a small computer on a desk in the center of the room.

Luckily, the computer was already on and running, that made Don's job easier. He quickly had the locks set to release the next morning at 7:30 AM, and just as they closed the door behind them on the way out a shrill alarm shattered the silence in the hall.

"Oh shell"

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BWAHAHAHAHAAAA! Cliffie! hehe. Well, this close to the end what did you expect? Only Chapters 17 and 18 left to go! Then… then uh… hmm… well I'll think of something. I know some of you are Buffy fans, but are there any Angel fans out there who would be interested in seeing a cross-over?


	18. Chapter 17: Time to Get Outta Dodge

Nalong - Chapter 17 Let's get the shell out of here!

Disclaimer: Ok, seriously now. Who really thinks that if I owned the turtles I would be writing this little piece of fanfiction? …anyone? …no? Well good, because I don't own the turtles or Splinter or April or Casey. The story and original characters alone are mine. I make no money from this, so please don't sue me.

A/N: Wow, I can't believe this is almost over. You guys have all been absolutely awesome. Wow, there are a lot of you! But we're coming up on the end here so I'll go through this whole thing!

ANYWAY ON TO THE STORY!

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"Oh shell"

"Way to go shellforbrains." The comment was accompanied by a smack to the back of the head.

"Ow! I didn't do anything!"

"Well, I didn't do anything!"

"Doesn't matter, let's get out of here!"

Two turtles, one in orange and the other in purple, leapt for the ventilation system and watched as guards and protectors scrambled into and down the corridor below.

"Aren't they going the wrong direction?"

"Looks like."

"So, I guess we didn't mess up."

"Nope. Let's go find Raph and Leo."

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"I guess they found the little gift we left them." Raphael laughed, when the alarms went off.

"Let's hope that's all they found." Leo said. They had reached the rendezvous point and now all they had to do was kill time until Donnie and Mikey showed.

They didn't have long to wait. Soon the four turtles were reunited in the ventilation system near the main entrance. They headed for the exit, but knew that they would have to leave the safety of the vent shaft.

"We're going to have to move quickly when we leave the vents." Leo warned.

"We know, Leo." Raphael reminded him. He knew that his brother meant well, but it was really annoying.

Leo ignored him, and they waited for their opportunity. When it presented itself they jumped. Michelangelo was the last one down, and he pulled the vent cover shut behind him with a silent giggle. They were going to get away with this one.

There were several tight moments as the turtles raced back to their barracks. Leo had come around a corner too quickly and had been in plain sight of three guards before he realized his mistake and ducked back into the shadows, luckily for them no one saw, though they couldn't imagine why not.

"Real smooth, bro." Raphael snarled quietly as soon as they were clear.

"Hey, he didn't get caught did he." Mikey reminded his red-clad brother.

"Shush." Leo pulled his brothers back to the task at hand. "Let's move."

Four turtles slipped back into their barracks only minutes before the guards came around searching for any missing prisoners. Once the guards were gone it was time to get a few hours sleep before the big day they would be having tomorrow.

--------------The Next Morning------------------

-Hamilton City Limits-

The sun was just coming up. The sky was blue, the grass green, the weather was the complete antithesis of Casey's mood. It seemed that the closer they got to finding the turtles the further away they seemed.

"Why don't we try the post office? They should know where this place is." April suggested.

"That is a very good idea Miss O'Neil."

Casey pulled the Battle Shell up in front of the town post office. He couldn't help but notice how odd the thing would look parked between the beater pick-up that had obviously spent every day since its purchase on a farm and the brand new BMW that he saw parked side-by-side at the small grocery store next door. The Battle Shell was just a little to 'combat' for this small town, and he couldn't believe that the guys were anywhere around here.

"This place is dullsville, what would a crazy cult be doing here?"

"What better place to hide than where no one would look Mr. Jones?" Splinter quietly stated.

"Oh, right."

April rolled her eyes at the vigilante and got out of the rig to ask for directions. She knew the office wasn't open, but there was always someone there separating and organizing the outgoing mail who she could ask, and she was back shortly.

"This address isn't so much in Hamilton as it is within the postal code. It's about a half hour from here on a Rural Route. It's a large farm near a river, and sounds like the kind of place where that cult could be hiding if you ask me. It is definitely worth a look, if nothing else."

"Well, let's get out of here!" Casey called enthusiastically.

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Leonardo was awoken early by Donatello's restlessness below him. His brother's movement was shaking the whole bunk. He hopped down and confronted the turtle who was quite effectively disrupting his sleep.

"Hey Donnie, What's up?"

Don jumped and flipped around to face his brother. "Oh, hi Leo."

"That's it, 'Hi Leo'? Donnie, you've been tossing and turning all night long, so what's up?"

"Last night we saw something disturbing." Donatello sighed. "Actually, we heard it more than saw it. Mikey made me look away. Probably better that way. I might have done something stupid otherwise." He didn't continue, but he was hurting. The determination had drained away and once again he was left uncertain of what he was doing.

"Alright Donnie, talk to me. What was it?"

Donatello explained the occurrences from the night before and Leonardo couldn't help but curse these awful cult members again.

"I don't think I've ever been so angry in my entire life." The purple-clad turtle admitted.

"It's almost over Donnie. Everything will work out."

"I hope so, Leo, I really hope so. All I've been seeing all night is various scenarios of the hundreds of ways that this could go wrong. Leo, I don't want it to go wrong. I want all these people to get out. I want to go home, and even if we get out of here I don't know how we're going to get back to New York. Leo, we don't even know where we are, where they've taken us."

"But I'll bet Steve does, Donnie. It will all work out, bro, I promise." Leo put a hand no his brother's shoulder, and received a weak half-smile from Don.

"I don't know how you do that, Leo, stay so optimistic, but you're good at it. Thank you." Don checked the watch he had borrowed from Steve. "Well, I guess it's time to get moving." Don got up and woke Michelangelo and Annie, who after calming down and talking to Steve had forgiven the turtle for his questioning of Steve's loyalty. In moments the three had vacated the barracks once more. Wake up call was going to happen a little early this morning.

"Optimistic? If only you knew, Donnie, if only you knew." The scenarios Don had mentioned Leo had been through too. He wasn't as optimistic as he had made out to be, he just knew it _had_ to work. Leo knew that they would all do everything in their power to get out of here.

He woke Raphael, Steve, and Eric and started to prepare for the upcoming day.

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Sorry, that one was kind of short too. The next, and last, one is long, I promise. Stay tuned for the CONCLUSION!


	19. Chapter 18: The Great Escape

Nalong - Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT or associated characters, Splinter, April, Casey, Bebop, Rocksteady. All I own are the OCs and the plot of this little story. I make no money from this and I foresee no change in any of these things. Please don't sue me.

A/N: Alright, There was a HUGE error in here, that no one called me on, but it's been driving me crazy since I found it, so I have fixed it and touched up this chapter a little.

A huge Thank You to **Midnight Heir** for being my guinea pig and taking the time to check this over for me. THANKS! And as usual Thank You to all you wonderful reviewers out there.

Ok, About the alarm. Raphael and Leonardo knocked out 4 guards in Chapter 16: Weapons and Extremists. Those guards were found unconscious by their buddies and the intruder alarm was sounded. It just so happened to coincide with Donnie and Mikey shutting the door.

* * *

Annie and her terrapin escorts headed toward the central guard house. Only three guards ever patrolled the small tower, but it was from there that reveille sounded every morning. Today it would be coming a little early. 

With some luck Annie could get the job done without needing Donnie or Mikey to assist her; they were the contingency plan. The bugle sat on a small table unguarded and unnoticed for most of the day. Only the bugler noticed it and only when he was playing it. Now was not one of those times.

"Alright Annie, you're up." Mikey whispered.

She concentrated, and a moment later the bugle shot out the second story window and was deftly caught by Michelangelo. The two turtles had been told about Annie's telekinesis. It was raw, she could only cause gross, general movements, but it was enough, as long as someone could catch the bugle. Annie could push everything off a table, but could not single out one item on that table to move, which explained the glass of water that accompanied the bugle and shattered at Mikey's feet sending glass shards flying and causing the three prisoners to jump backward. One other item also flew out the window, a very familiar nunchaku. The look on Mikey's face was begging Don to go against his better judgment.

"Alright Mikey, but we have to move fast."

Michelangelo nodded enthusiastically and handed the bugle to Annie. He wanted both hands free for what they were about to do. The trio moved toward the tower. It was locked, but time was of the essence here, not stealth, and Mikey's flying kick made short work of the door. He led the way up the stairwell with Donatello close at his heels and Annie not far behind.

"Down, Mikey!" Don shouted as the three tower guards came into view. Michelangelo obeyed immediately and Donnie used his brother's shell as a jump off point. From the air Donatello latched onto the arm of one of the guards and let his momentum pull the guard over. The man started to tumble down the stairs, and in one smooth motion Mikey gently slid Annie out of the way and came around, kicking the man on his way by to make doubly sure that he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Don was tangling with a second guard and Mikey pulled a leg out from under the third. Michelangelo watched as the guard tumbled head over heels down the stairs. Behind him, Donnie lost his footing, but managed to pull the guard he was fighting down with him. Mikey clamped one hand onto the handrail and snagged his brother's shell with the other as the fighting pair tumbled by.

"Oof! Thanks Mikey." Donatello lay sprawled on the steps, but at least he wasn't falling down them.

"Hey, what are brothers for? Heads up, Donnie," Michelangelo added as he pushed the guard. The man fell over the turtle on the stairs and went to join his friends. Mikey, Don and Annie continued upward.

The tower was not meant for much more than a high place that allowed the sound of the bugle to carry, but evidently the bugler had some sort of fascination with traditional weaponry. All sorts of things were around the room. Many weapons were displayed prominently on the walls, while still others seemed to be lying about as if they were going to be displayed, but hadn't been put up yet. Michelangelo's other 'chuck was lying on the floor beside the table.

Donatello was amazed by the sheer number of weapons all gathered here in this one place. It was an impressive collection that had probably been gathered off of other prisoners who had fought back. Don had to wonder how many of the prisoners had been ripped from their homes in the dead of night. Most people didn't carry around weapons like this on their backs. Well, he and his brothers carried weapons around, but they weren't what he considered 'most people'. He searched the walls for his bo staff as well as Leo's katana and Raph's sais. Picking out the individual weapons from the vast collection was harder than he would have thought. He bypassed a section of manriki gusari, glanced over several tanto knives, a few tonfas and a rather vicious looking axe that might have been Roman, and continued to pan his gaze along the walls. When he came across some shuriken he tucked a few into his belt, handed some to Mikey and moved on. The first items of interest that caught his eye were the swords. Certainly the most popular weapon in the room, Don searched for the Leo's familiar twin katana. He moved closer to look for details. There were three pairs displayed on the wall, two of which had blue wrapping on the hilts, but he knew his brother's weapons and quickly removed the correct pair.

Michelangelo spotted Don's bo staff among the items on the floor and picked it up. He searched for Raphael's sais, but they didn't seem to be there.

"Hey Donnie, catch," Mikey called out as he tossed the bo to his brother without looking. The clang of metal on the floor startled him and his gaze snapped to the other turtle.

Donatello fixed Mikey with a glare. One hand grasped one of Leo's katana, and the other was wrapped around his bo. The second sword lay on the floor at his feet.

"You are so lucky I didn't get myself with that thing." Don warned his brother.

Mikey grinned innocently.

"Here, make yourself useful." Don tossed the sword in his hand to his brother, after making sure Mikey was looking and not otherwise occupied of course, then he followed by tossing the second sword and returning his bo in its rightful place on his back.

Donatello was searching the wall for Raphael's sais again before Michelangelo even caught the second sword.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" Mikey asked.

Don shrugged as he found two very familiar sais and rescued them from their spot on the wall. He tucked the items away in his belt and looked over at Mikey, who was holding the katana rather awkwardly. Even though he knew how to use them perfectly well, that didn't mean he knew what to do with them right now.

"Carry them, we'll find Leo soon enough." Don shouted back as he and Annie headed back down the stairwell.

Mikey groaned, but hurried after his companions.

"Shouldn't we do this from up there?" Annie asked.

"No, we want to be clear of this place before the guards know something's up. They'll hear well enough. Besides, the others are going to start making rounds to get people out." Don explained quickly.

As soon as they reached a safe distance Annie put the bugle to her lips and reveille sounded early. Clear, crisp notes shattered the silence of the morning. The prisoners of this place would be out of their barracks in moments, and the group here could only hope that Leo, Raph, and the others were in position. Annie dropped the bugle to the ground and the trio split up and ran for the three nearest barracks to start their next task.

"Alright, that's our cue," Leo instructed when he heard the bugle, "let's move."

Raphael, Steve, Eric and Leonardo headed in different directions. Each individual took a different barrack and sent the occupants to tell others, then escape through any gate they found. They had a 45-minute window that Donatello had programmed in. No one could close or lock the gates during that time once they had been unlocked. Everything had to happen fast if they were going to get this done in the allotted time.

Raphael raced between barracks getting the prisoners out and he noticed Alejandro doing the same in the area. The two joined forces and made quick work of that end of the camp.

Mikey was still running around with Leo's katana, and he was feeling downright awkward with them. The prisoners didn't take all that kindly to being busted in on by a giant turtle with a pair of three-foot long blades either. As he raced out of yet another barrack Michelangelo noticed two animal-men headed the wrong direction. They were headed away from the gates, but weren't really headed toward anything else that Mikey could tell either.

"Hey dudes!" Mikey called out. "Exit's that way!"

The rhino and warthog stopped and turned to Michelangelo.

snort "Are you sure?" The warthog asked.

"Hey, it's one of them toitle guys!"

Michelangelo was struck by the oddest sense of déjà vu. These dudes were familiar, but he couldn't place them or figure out why he felt like he should know them.

"I'm pretty sure." Mikey replied.

"Are you sure you're sure?" The rhino demanded.

"I'm sure, I'm sure. There's nothing over there except fields. Out's that way! See those people? Follow them." Mikey moved around the two towering oafs and gave them a shove in the right direction.

"Out, here we come!" The warthog grunted as he headed off in the direction Mikey had pushed him.

Mikey cocked an eyeridge at the strange creatures. The tips of Leo's katana were resting in the dirt to Michelangelo's sides as he tried to pull himself back to the present. He still felt like he knew them somehow. Three guards tried to place themselves in the path of the rushing creatures but were thrown aside effortlessly. Well, at least the way would be plowed for that group of escapees. Mikey could only hope that they continued in the right direction. He had to get back to his family.

Leonardo raced through his section and headed to the predetermined meeting spot. He was soon joined by Raphael and Alejandro. Mikey and Annie showed next, followed by Eric, Donnie and finally Steve.

**You are the last! Get out of here before it is too late!**

The voice ripped through their minds like a knife. It was startling and most of them didn't know what to make of it.

"That's Nalong." Raphael explained.

"It's probably best that we listen to him." Donatello added.

The group ran for the fence. In moments they were out and racing through the woods surrounding the complex. Suddenly, Eric halted.

"Someone's looking for you guys." He said to the turtles.

"Yeah, the guards, the protectors, and probably every other loony in that cult!" Raphael exclaimed grabbing Eric's hand and pulling him along.

**You are still too close, MOVE! **It was Nalong again, spurning the group into another sprint.

"It's not the cult!" Eric insisted. "These people, they want you back. There is friendship, or closer, maybe family?"

"Master Splinter?" Leo ventured as he ran.

"You said 'they', so more than one?" Donatello asked. "Maybe Casey and April are with him too." He added at Eric's nod.

"That way," Eric directed them.

The group dashed through the woods in the indicated direction.

**You need to get clear NOW!** Nalong's messages were becoming more insistent, but they were moving as fast as they could.

Donatello heard a familiar engine noise, one that he would know anywhere no matter how out of place it seemed. He pulled the group toward the nearby road and was rewarded by the sight of the Battle Shell rolling over the hill.

Raphael flagged the vehicle down and the group clambered into the back end.

**Now, my friends, get out of here! You need to get away from this place!**

"No time to explain, just floor it April," Leo commanded, "Back the way you came!" He amended when she continued toward the complex.

April spun the vehicle in a skidding U-turn and the Battle Shell shot away from the camp.

"Whooooaaaaa!" Several voices cried out from the back where they hadn't had a chance to strap in, and there weren't enough seatbelts for all of them anyway.

"Oh sure, _she_ gets to do the fun driving!" Casey complained.

They were almost a mile out from the camp when a bright white light flashed and lit up everything. April slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting something she couldn't see.

The presence they all felt now was strange, but Raphael, Alejandro and Donatello all immediately recognized it as Nalong. They weren't told anything this time, instead it was knowledge, they just knew that all the prisoners were free and that the cult's headquarters was in ruins. It would be many years before the cult could even begin to do something like this again, and even then it would probably never work. A blast like that could not go unnoticed by the media, even in a place as sparsely populated as this.

A voice reverberated through the air, though the individuals in the Battle Shell were the only ones to hear it.

**You_ are_ nalong, all of you. Donatello, Raphael, Alejandro I am glad to have had the privilege of your acquaintance and I thank you. You are the source of the river that set us all free.**

The light continued, but now there was a silhouette of a large lizard standing on his hind legs. The lizard bowed deeply in respect and then he was gone. The turtles and their friends and family were sitting in the rig, most looking at each other in confusion.

"What was that all about?" Leo asked looking to Don and Raph.

"Just something he told us after the Course." Raphael said simply. "That's all." Leo let the subject drop, he could get the story later.

Once the Battle Shell was pulled safely over to the side of the road the group got out and looked back at where the complex once stood. It was gone. The hill it once occupied had been leveled.

"Someone's going to notice that mountain's missing." Michelangelo quipped.

The laughter started nervously, but it became more heartfelt as the moments passed. April was the first to pull Michelangelo in for a hug, starting off the family welcome.

Steve smiled. His new friends were back where they belonged. They had a great family and that was where they should be. Eric, Annie and Alejandro looked a little left out, but soon introductions were made and they were welcomed by this strange, wonderful family. Steve felt privileged just to have met them, much less actually be accepted.

Leonardo glanced over at Steve and noticed that some of the pain that was so familiar in the man's eyes was gone. He smiled at his friend who had had such a hard life.

Donatello gazed back at the smoking space that had once been a hill. Their time there was finally over and Donnie could not have been happier about that, but the best thing about this moment was the simple knowledge that they were going home. Sirens blared in the distance.

"Come," Splinter called, "It is time to leave this place."


End file.
